Ten Months

What a blessing the past 10 months have been!! Emma hit the 10 mos mark Tuesday, and she has brought us more joy than we ever thought she would! At her 9 mos check-up (yes, I know it's been a month!) she was 16.4 oz and was 26 3/4 inches long. I don't think she's physically grown much in a month since that doesn't seem to be the pattern the last several months, but she has certainly grown by leaps and bounds every other way! Just to list some highlights of life with her: she waves bye-bye and even sometimes says it, gives us kisses (they're big open mouth ones right now!!), will give us her paci (it's a game to her), loves to ride her horse, loves music and dancing, LOVES being outside (even via a window), likes pulling everything out of cabinets and drawers, likes throwing things, getting to be a very good cruiser, working and trying hard to walk, learning cause and effect, loves her walker, her farm truck, and anything that lights up or makes noise, enjoys taking off articles of clothing (esp. socks and shoes), been cutting her top two teeth the last couple of weeks (what a SLOW process!), loves to mimic and be mimiced, starting to learn how to and enjoy "playing" with her friends, loves tape, and loves food! Doesn't she look so old all bundled up and in tennis shoes in the top picture?? Those are her first pair of real shoes, and they had to be Nikes! She didn't like them, but she's starting to get used to them. Emma certainly brings life and joy to the ordinary around here, and we are so sad she's already growing up so fast! We're trying to soak it all up and savor the times together...even when she tests us! : ) And so ends another mass blogging...I'm telling you, time just flies; it's hard to get to these updates!

Happy Halloween!

Every year on Halloween, our youth put on a Fall Festival open to anyone. It's so much fun, and I love watching people of all ages dress up and interact as well as doing that myself. What's crazy is how long it's been since I was one of the "youth" helping! Ugh...old age comes faster every day! This year Ben was a pirate and I was his treasure chest. It took a lot of work to convince Ben to dress up, but he was a good sport as I started pulling things out to "make" his costume; I spent all my energy and the little bit of creativity I have on his, so mine wasn't all that great. It was fun anyway, and he was not easily recognized all night! These pictures are just random ones from the night of us and some of our friends. The four girls in the third picture are some of our seniors who were Mario Bros., the princess, and toadstool. I thought that was so creative and cute! In the last couple, Emma and I are coming out of the maze. The streamers at the end were probably the most interesting part to her...oh, and that basket of candy!

The evening gets harder...

...at least for some of us. You can see Emma's dad having a great time having a sack race and playing tug of war...the child in him definitely comes out in him when we're with the high school kids! : ) Emma was after everyone's candy all night, and she doesn't even know what it is yet! The picture of all the little ones was a painful process...lots of whining, crying, running from the "group"! The moms were all laughing not to cry, I think. Actually, I may have been crying from laughing so hard. We finally got them all together, and Emma's friend grabbed her penguin head and sent her to big tears and screams, and then it almost fell apart. I am hoping someone was able to get a good picture, but at least it's a fun memory they can all laugh at as teenagers! Emma was all about the water games, soaked her costumed, and got stripped to a onesie, which made her happy anyway (I think she was more than warm). The big group picture is of the high school kids that worked the festival. After the big group picture, all their fun began as they were turned loose for tug-of-war and the moonbounce! Meanwhile, DJ and I got Emma ready for bed and tried to entertain her until we were finally able to drag Ben away from the fun and games. Ben's mom brought her those cute Halloween PJ's earlier in the day!

Books and Water

Books and water...great distractions and lots of enjoyment these days! I bought her a Christmas book at my mom's school book fair that has a star throughout the story that lightst up on the last page. Emma quickly learned that and grew impatient with the story...get on to the good stuff on the last page! She is checking out the book in the top picture. In the next pictures, she got a little wet. We were talking one afternoon, and I set her on the counter to let her play in the mirror, she figured out how to turn on the water, CLIMBED into the sink, and had a blast. Even though changing her is a dreadful chore, it was worth watching her play and squeal away!

Baskets of fun...

Yes, Emma is a mess! Of course, that can probably be said about most babies! As you can see, we have quite the climber! Climbing up stairs, into drawers, into baskets of laundry, into baskets of stuffed animals, into baskets of toys, and yes, she is climbing OUT of the window in the last picture! I was worried she might get out before I got the picture!! : ) Actually, I had to pull her down a couple of times before attempting a picture. She is loving feeding herself these days, and I am working hard to find more and more foods that are good for that. I'm handing the spoon over occassionally, but we're not quite ready for that...Daddy's REALLY not ready for that!

Hollywood

I quite often call Emma Hollywood because she loves to wear glasses, boas, hats, and now beads...and LOVES to see herself in the mirror all dolled up! Somehow she knows what looks cute. : ) The top couple of pics are her on the front porch playing in Mommy's fall decorations, then a picture of her practicing being a penguin. The shirt that says how cute am I? is from Aunt DJ, but she wasn't in the mood to take cute pictures for me! : ) She was just ready to move, as always!

Emma's First Hike

On Oct. 13, Ben, Emma and I packed up and headed to Crowder's Mountain for our first "family" hike. Quite different from the last time we hiked...we're both much more out of shape, and Ben had a much heavier load this time. You can see all the work wore out poor little Emma too! : ) It was a gorgeous day and a much needed getaway! Emma had her first picnic, treasured the rock Daddy gave her to play with, LOVED being outside all day and playing with pine needles, branches, and sticks. When we got to the top, we ended up in a secluded little place on the mountain where we enjoyed a MAGNIFICENT view (pictures never do the views justice), had snacks for all, and we rested while Emma worked hard to check out as many textures as possible as well as get as dirty as she's probably been in her lifetime. She was none too happy with us when we took her from the dirt to pose for a selftimer family photo! : ) We decided we really ought to do more hiking and picnicing as we all had very likely the best day of the month on this trip. We always love the views from the mountaintops; we can't every figure how people can experience such breathtaking scenery and deny our Creator. How else could such beauty and majesty exist???