Emily's First Attempt at Hair Cutting

2/09
I was cleaning out a bathroom cupboard and after several minutes, noticed that it was very quiet in the house. I couldn't hear Emily at all. So I went looking for her, knowing that quiet, however nice, is usually NOT a good thing when it comes to toddlers. I found her in the other bathroom, huddled over haircutting scissors. Before I had time to REACT, Brian nudged me out of the way and told me HE would handle this:

Polly Pocket Playground??

4/04/09

Who knew breakfast, bananas and Polly Pockets could be so much fun?

Walk around Balboa Peninsula

4/05/09

One of our favorite walks is to go down to Balboa, in Newport Beach. They have a long boardwalk that goes in a big circle around the peninsula. You can cross the ferry to the amusement park side, or just walk around and take in the view of the harbor. Emily likes to walk on the little wall that borders the sand. There are gorgeous homes to look at, as well as the boats. This day was great weather and we all had fun.
Crossing on the ferry
Riding the ferris wheel

New Calling

3/28/09

I get to spend 2 hours each Sunday with this group! They are called Moonbeams, and they are the oldest of the nursery kids, those that will be in Primary next January. Another girl and I have 9 of them, including Emily.

I can't say I was looking forward to this calling, but the experience has surprised me. Who knew little 2 1/2 and 3 year olds could sit in a classroom and pay attention? They are so enthusiastic about any little activity, and they are learning so much. They actually go home and tell their moms and dads what they learned! (I hear this from the moms...)

What a Toddler Can Do In 5 Minutes While Unsuspecting Parent is in Other Room

Baking with Mommy

2/25/09

One of my ongoing goals is to do more one-on-one activities with Emily, where she has my undivided attention. This may sound easy, but trying to find the time is really difficult. So I have to plan. On this particular afternoon, I thought it would be fun to bake some brownie mini-muffins together. She had a lot of fun...

Buddy Love

Buddy is loved more than mommy and daddy. Buddy gets cuddles and kisses. Buddy is talked about constantly. Buddy gets the blame for bad behavior. Buddy can kiss mommy and daddy when Emily doesn't want to. Buddy gets songs sang about him. Buddy is irreplaceable. Buddy can never get lost. Or we are in big trouble...

Valentine's In the Snow

Well I am so behind on blogging that it is ridiculous. So I will attempt to start...

2/14/09
This Valentines Day, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house up in Lake Arrowhead. It was a snow-filled weekend. After a fun breakfast out, we were able to load up Emily and meet some friends (Kari, Floyd and family) for a fun afternoon sledding and playing in the snow. Emily had a great time!

Makin' a snowball...learned that very quickly!
Hangin' with Lexie

Sledding is FUN!Covering Eyes now that it is run #2!

Emily's Funny Words

I thought it would be a good idea for me to record some of Emily's little word variations that she uses because they are so cute. I want to be able to remember them for when she gets older:

opeemeal for oatmeal
leggybugs for ladybugs
Ondonalds for McDonalds
Ahbar for granola bar
Cinderbella for Cinderella
ear booger for ear wax
mazagine for magazine
Skiggles for Skittles

I'm sure there are more but these are what I can think of right now. Will come back to add more later.

Give Away: Cuties California Mandarins

Hey- If anyone is interested, I am giving away 5 lb boxes of Cuties (clementines) on my other blog. Go to this link to enter the contest:

Valentines Day Giveaway

Funny Emily Comment

Today, we went to Babies R Us to buy some more toddler spoons. (Emily is super picky about what spoons she uses and we had lost most of her favorites) Emily was carrying the package, and handed it to the cashier. She said, "Here you go, lady." The cashier smiled and said, "Why thank you ma'am."

Emily, very loudly, replied, "I not a man. Daddy's a man!" It was super funny. The cashier started to explain that she didn't say man, but Emily didn't get it so we moved on.

Mommy and Me

Had to get a new camera because mine broke. So we were taking a few pics to try it out!

Christmas Morning at Home

This year we stayed home for Christmas. Oma, Uncle Mel and cousin Jill came over for breakfast. (more like lunch by the time it was ready)

Brian's mom gave me the recipe for their annual Christmas breakfast of famous German scones and I made them for the first time. It was a bit tricky but they turned out yummy. Oma ate around 10 of them, and claimed 5. Ha Ha

Emily had a great time opening her stocking and all of her gifts. We spread it out till the afternoon so she wasn't so overwhelmed.

All in all it was a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Early White Christmas

The weekend before Christmas, we went up to Lake Arrowhead to celebrate with Brian's parents. It was cold and snowy. We had a great time.

Baking with Grandma, and eating her fabulous sugar cookies!

Made my first snowman! The snow was really dry and powdery so it took forever, but I think it turned out pretty cool!
Sitting in the rocker with Buddy.

Hangin out with GG and Great Grandpa.
Opening presents! Merry Christmas.