our 18 month old

So, it's been awhile since we've blogged and lots has been going on since then! The biggest of which is that Emily started nursery today!! I can't believe it! I'll get more into her 18 month updates a little later one, but first, here are some of the other things we've been up to.

A couple weeks ago we went to the Houston Rodeo. It's one of my favorite traditions here, so I'm really glad we were able to go. It was pretty last minute, and we're grateful that Fleming gave us her FREE tickets, since she couldn't go that day :) We had planned on taking Emily with us, so we got her a cute cowgirl outfit and everything, but we ended up deciding not to take her so Grant and I could stay later. So we still got some pictures with her and then Grant and I headed down. At least we have a ward western party coming up, so Emily will get to wear her outfit at least one more time :)

Grant and I had a great time at the rodeo! It was fun to get away for a date night! We got to see some of the rodeo competition and then Jake Owen performed. We found our favorite stand, "fried what," and were able to eat some yummy food. We didn't go too crazy with the fried foods this year because we didn't have a bunch of people to share with. Grant wanted a funnel cake and I wanted a fried snickers so those were our special treats this time :)

We had a really fun St. Patrick's Day this year! We started the day off with green lucky charms for breakfast. Emily had the cutest St. Patrick's Day outfit, thanks to her Aunt Fleming's awesome find! For dinner we had shepherd's pie, green fruit salad, irish soda bread, and mint brownies with mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. It was great!

We've taken lots of trips to parks and the zoo lately. Emily loves being outside and really loves animals. We've taken two trips to the zoo so far this year. I went once with some moms and kids from our ward, and then we did another trip with some families from the ward so the dads could go too. At the zoo, we'll point out the animals in each exhibit and she'll search around for it and as soon as she finds it she starts giggling. Her favorite part is the petting zoo. She wants to pet every animal in there! Thanks Grandma Barb for the zoo passes! I think we'll get a lot of use out of them!

she wasn't a fan of the carousel :(

Yesterday, I spent one of my first full days away from Emily since she was born and went shopping with some girlfriends at the outlets in Cypress. That meant Grant and Emily got to have a daddy/daughter day. They had a good time playing, going out to lunch, and running errands together. At home depot, they got free strawberry lemonade, which Emily loved! 

So, I know that's a lot of pictures! If you've lasted this long, here's a quick update of where Emily is at 18 months:

21 1/4 lbs and 30 1/2 in (yes, she's tiny!)

likes: outdoors, animals, treats, puzzles

dislikes: doctors, being told no

trouble maker :)

can say more words, do puzzles, and follow any command

-Emily's turned into a little trouble maker in the past few weeks. She's started climbing on all of our furniture, including the kitchen table. She likes to rearrange our furniture by pushing all of our kitchen chairs into the other room. She thinks it's fun to jump off the couch. She will climb up and down the stairs all.day.long and will not let anyone help her (and she refuses to go down the safe way). She likes to play in the fireplace (not while the fire is on ;)). She throws things from the upstairs balcony to the downstairs. She's also getting more comfortable with her surroundings at church, so Grant and I find ourselves chasing her around the chapel each week. And that's just naming a few :) 

-I don't want it to sound like I'm complaining about her, though :) She really is a great girl and for the most part, she's really easy. She's almost always in a good mood and she's easy to please. She loves being with other kids and playing and she's great at entertaining herself. That's why we think she'll enjoy nursery. Grant and I teach primary and she's really enjoyed being there. She usually ends up finding the sunbeam class and sitting with them. She looks at them like she's so proud to be just like them :)

Her first day in nursery went great! We took her there and she went straight for the toys right in with the other kids. We checked on her a few times and she seemed to be having a good time. Her leaders said she was a little upset for the first few minutes and then she didn't have any more problems. When I went to get her she was having a blast with the bubbles. She did a little cry of relief when I came, but I know she had fun :)

hanging with the kids in primary

fitting right into nursery :)

-We're starting to wean her from her pacifier. It's gone a lot better than we anticipated. She only gets it now if she's sleeping. For a little while, she was still trying to get it other times, but now she really doesn't need it while she's up anymore. She's even started handing it to us when we get her out of bed, because she knows she's done with it. We've also been limiting her electronic use. It was getting to the point where she was always wanting to play with a phone or iPad, and if she saw one she started begging for it. We cut off electronic use completely for a while, and now she doesn't get upset if she sees one and if we ever do let her play, she's ok when it's time to be done.

-Emily's getting pretty good at using a fork and spoon now when she eats. We've had some messy episodes, but that was expected. Now that she's good with her utensils, we're starting to have her drink with an open-rimmed cup. It will be an interesting process, but we're seeing improvement :)

She still loves the outdoors more than just about anything! We've already gone swimming a couple times this year and she had a great time... and this is her new very favorite activity: