On the Move and Into Everything!

These are just pictures of Emma playing around the house. The other day I left her playing in her room to go print something and came back to quiet and found the bathroom door closed. She has become very fond of doors and loves opening and closing them. The bathrooms seem to become more and more a favorite place to try to get to as well, though I think the pantry is becoming more fascinating now. Anyway, after she crawled out of the bathroom and to me, she climed up my legs and begun talking and screaming...something else she's doing a lot more of lately. She loves to crawl to the kitchen windows, pull herself and bang on the windows while talking and screaming to Tanner. Maybe I'll figure out the video thing one day and try to post that. The other pictures are from Emma playing alone in the bonus room. She had a great time climbing in the floor seats and getting the huge excercise ball! Later in the day, she was crawling around and went after her puffs in her diaper bag. You can see her in the bottom picture working hard to get the can open...she loves those puffs!

Aloha

Emma finally got to meet Beth and Miller! Beth is another good college friend who is based in Hawaii with her husband and son. I miss seeing them, but I think I probably see her just about as much as I do my college friends who are only an hour or two away! How sad, but I am so thankful I got to catch up with her, and as you can see, Emma loved playing with Miller! He wasn't too sure what to think of her at times! Unfortunately, I did miss my other friends from Lander that day, but I had to get back for Emma...I was way too busy and gone too much the week before, and she was letting me know that throughout the night! I committed to being home and devoting more time to her that week to try to help her through the anxiety I apparently created the previous week...it actually worked, and the nights almost instantly got better! I missed out on some good times with my friends, but parenting duties are a priority these days. I hope to see the Bailey family soon, and hopefully, with their new addition!

Stephanie's New Ride

My college roommate and friend, Steph, went and bought a boat! And, of course, we had to go check it out when she called with the news and invitation! It was Emma's first time on a lake-- and my first time this summer! It was so much fun to hang out with some friends from the good ol' Lander days! It was quite different to be on the lake with a baby, but she LOVED it! She tried swimming and drinking up the lake, and she LOVED standing up at the back feeling the wind in her face and watching the water behind us as we drove around. What a wonderul day and memory!

Christmas in August??

A friend called me this morning to let me know the local Christian radio station is playing Christmas music today...how exciting! It's a fun "beat the heat" attempt apparently. I immediately turned it on, and Emma and I have been enjoying it all day...how different Christmas will be in the Howell household this year! Actually, this week has been extremely busy for us, but Christmas has been coming to mind several times anyway. It is most definitely my most favorite time of year! It's so wonderful to me to now have the opportunity to pass on the stories of Jesus' birth to my own family. There is nothing more wonderful and precious than Jesus coming to earth to save us from our sinfulness, and I love the joy that season of celebration brings! It may be 4 1/2 months before this most sacred holiday, but it's never too early to sing about and think on the joy and excitement our Savior's birth brings! May you be blessed with thoughts of that Holy Night as the season approaches!

Independence

Independence is definitely Emma's goal these days...you see her little feet down the hall in her room where she is going on her own more frequently now, she has found the stairs and is working hard on those, and this morning somehow was able to pull herself up in the pack n play. Daddy was so excited that he was the one to witness and report on a "first" last night! I went to dinner with my Refresh group, and Emma was with her Daddy (in the bonus room with his new tv, of course) most of the evening. He told me she kept trying to climb up the two stairs to the hall/bath up stairs, and he kept moving her. After finally leaving and watching her, she was able to pull herself up both stairs and immediately took off crawling! On to buy a baby gate for the bottom of the big stairs now, I suppose!

Books, Books, Books!

Emma and I were playing in her room one morning this week, and she was all about getting books off the shelf and reading! She does love books, but I think more often, she prefers to bang and eat them over reading them! The educator in me is still excited about her developing pre-reading skills!

We've got a baller!!

I was in the kitchen trying to cook and stock up some baby food last Saturday night after a family reunion and Will's birthday party when Emma left Mommy for the first time! She was hanging around my feet in the kitchen trying to pull up and play with her toys until that got boring and then crawled off to go into her room. It was such a bittersweet moment...finally she is able to entertain herself somewhat, but she's gaining more independence at the same time (yes, I know that's our goal, but it just seems to come so quickly)! After a couple of minutes, I went in to check on her, turn on the light since it was getting dark, and get some of her toys out for her. Among those toys with a ball her Great Aunt Susan got her at the beach. Yes, that was the toy of choice...I kept hearing her up and down the hall and, to my joy, found her very excited to be playing with a ball! : ) I took a break from cooking a while to play with her, and then she was off on her own again; she was happy playing ball for 30 minutes...quite unusual for our ADD baby. ; ) Here's hoping she keeps up the love for playing ball!

My absent-minded self forgot my camera for Will's birthday party, so you'll have to check out Mary Matheson's blog for some pictures of that!

Crazy Fun

Emma is really starting to run me ragged, but she is definitely some "crazy fun"! I love being with her, as you can see, she is quite often laughing and being silly. We went to see her great grandparents again last week, and they were very happy to play with her and see how big and mobile she's getting. She is starting to get a little more attached to Mommy, but she LOVES other people to play with her, especially other children!

Our Little Mess

Crawling, pulling up, standing and cruising in the crib, and into everything...seems like Emma finds more ways to be more mobile and get where and what she wants every day!! I love the top picture as you can see she's telling me all about how fun it is to try climbing out of her crib!