Year of the Kitchen

The picture says it all. Emma was very fortunate to receive all she did for Christmas. So many cool things. She was ecstatic to receive here "titchen" that she has been asking for for weeks (she did say at the last minute that she wanted a horse, which threw us all off). She loves her kitchen from Momo and Papa because she can take it upstairs. The Elmo microwave from Uncle Matthew, Aunt Debbie, Carter and Sadie is always running. What great surprises! Emma is a big fan of her new rocking chair from Mimi and Papaw. She sits and rocks her new baby doll and insists that it "go to bed." She is too funny to watch as she pretends.

We are very excited to see what 2010 has in store for us! Keep checking out

our blog for more stories!

Fun Filled Week

Boy, we crammed a lot in this past week. Emma had a great week at school. One day was "Pajama and Movie Day" at her school. She was very excited to wear her "sleeping coat" (this is what she calls her button down pajamas) and got to take her Elmo movie. She got to see Santa at school. Emma wasn't so sure about Santa, but when her friend Paige got up there, she did at least sit on his lap. The look on their faces tells all. Friday, we went to Zoo Lights at the Indianapolis Zoo. I thought it was beautiful. Emma was most excited to see the penguins.

She hasn't stopped talking about them. Today we are off to see Grandma Imy to celebrate an early Christmas. I realized we need to get some gifts wrapped because Christmas will be here SOON!

Holly Jolly Days

Oh, what fun it is to... dig for dinosaurs, go ice fishing, whip down the Yuleslide, bake lettuce. We did all these things at the Holly Jolly Days at the Children's Museum. I think Emma could have dug for dinosaur bones all day. That is always her favorite part. For me, I could have gone down the big slide many more times. Emma was hysterical in the "baking room" as she so carefully placed the fake lettuce in the muffin pans and "baked" it. She told us, "I cooked the salad!" Holly Jolly Days is well worth the trip!

Happy Second Birthday, Emma Katherine!

I can't believe Emma is two!! We had a fabulous Elmo birthday party in honor of the birthday girl. Check out the Elmo cake made by Momo. It was awesome. My niece, Hannah, said it best, "It looks like a real Elmo!" Emma received many fun gifts. She loves her new piano the best (Thanks Auntie Amy and Uncle "Gook"). Emma loves telling people she is two, but can't quite hold up two fingers. She does sing the birthday song very well. We are going to have a little celebration tonight on her "actual" birthday. My nephew, Carter, says you should have a gift on your "actual" birthday. I am ready to celebrate again because birthdays are BIG! Love you Emma!!

Computer Glitches, Tailgating, Bounce House & Potties

So, I learned my lesson. I was having a lot of trouble with the Internet connection our computer. After some trouble-shooting, we realized it was the Weather Bug I had uploaded. It was taking up too much space. I am very glad to have it resolved to get back to my blog and pictures. Here are recent photos of the excitement from our house. We have been cheering on our favorite football teams every weekend, win or lose. Thankfully the Colts have balanced out the Hoosiers. Either way, Emma still cheers for everyone. No matter who is playing she shouts, "Go Colts! Go I.U.! Go Ben (Ben Chappell, I.U.'s quarterback)." After going to the Bucket Game this past weekend she will now tell you, "I like the marching band" and requests the Marching Hundred C.D. I am not sure I know many two year olds that like this type of music over nursery rhymes.

We also inherited a fabulous bounce house from one of our generous neighbors. This thing is awesome. Emma bounced in it until it got dark. I love this picture of Emma with our neighbors. They girls are always so patient with Emma. The bounce house is the hot item on the block. We may have to start charging admission. Emma wants it out every day. We have told her it is sleeping right now.

One other exciting addition in our house is the mini potty. Emma was moved up a room at school and they do a lot of talking about using the potty. She was obsessed with it for about a week. We figured we should go ahead and get the potty to keep up the interest. We will see. Right now the only people using it are her dolls.

We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday. We have many things to be thankful for this year, including the newest member born this morning, Preslee Tauer. Congrats to my cousin, Ginny and her husband Andy. Can't wait to meet Miss Preslee!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Funny Girl

It doesn't take much to entertain Emma. As you can see, she had way too much fun hiding in this storage container. She also decided to read to Lamont. She thought he should play an instrument, too. Doesn't he look thrilled?

Happy Halloween!

I am not sure what Emma will do now without her "Geen Dragon" costume. She has talked non-stop about going "Trick-or-Beating" and wanted to go again this morning. She did get good use out of the costume and wore it to her school's fall festival, to ZooBoo, to her school party and trick-or-treating. At least we can leave out the "Funkin" through Thanksgiving.