Friday, January 24, 2014

16 month updates

Emily turned 16 months earlier this week and I realized it's been awhile since we've done an update on her. I can't believe she'll be going to nursery in just two months! Wow!
It's so fun to watch her learn and see how smart she is! She can do and understand so much!! Here are her stats for this month:


about 20 lbs. and 30 in. (according to 15 month appt)
likes: outdoors, books, purses, friends
dislikes: having sticky hands, discipline
girly girl
can follow commands, color, and say some new words

-Grant and I keep speculating about what kind of kid Emily will be as she gets older. Grant wants her to like sports and I do too, but I also want her to like dolls and the girly stuff. So far it seems like she'll have a little of both. Her Uncle Jeff made her a purse a couple months ago and she went crazy for it! She loved putting it on her arm and showing it off to people, as well as collecting things in it. Now she's totally into any purse. She also loves jewelry- necklaces and bracelets- and feels like she's really cool if she ever gets to wear it. She does the same thing with makeup. She knows if I give her chapstick, it goes on her lips, powder goes on her cheeks, etc. It cracks me up! She's such a girly girl! But Grant's getting his wish also. One of her favorite toys is any kind of ball and she LOVES the outdoors. She would be outside all day everyday if I let her. Sometimes she'll just stand by the door or window until someone lets her go out.


she even likes to be outside when it's raining


-Going along with our speculations for the future, we feel that Emily might be more geared for math when she grows up. She's really good at anything that requires spatial awareness, like puzzles, stacking, organizing, etc. but she's not doing too much talking yet. We'll see if our predictions have any truth to them as she gets older. She is saying some words, though. She'll sometimes say mommy, daddy, nana, or doggie when prompted, but not always. Her newest things are saying "amen," which she now says at the end of almost every prayer (if she's paying attention) and "uh-oh." She'll sometimes drop something just so she can say "uh-oh." She'll occasionally copy us when we say animal noises. The ones she'll do the most are "meow," "ruff ruff," and "ooh ooh ah ah," (which she just pronounces "ah ah").

-Emily's awesome at following directions. She can pretty much follow any command or question that we give her. If we say, "let's go upstairs," or "bring the ball to mommy," or "do you want breakfast?" etc. she knows exactly what to do. She's getting better at communicating her wants and needs to us as well. She'll walk over and stand by the high chair or fridge if she's hungry and she'll always make sure we're following her if she wants to go somewhere. She's started doing this really whiny voice now when she wants something. It sounds like she's hyperventilating. I really don't like it! I'm trying to teach her better ways to get what she wants, but she doesn't get it yet. Hopefully we'll get past it soon!
this is the only way we have successful grocery trips anymore

-She's still a great eater! Some of her favorite foods right now are blueberries, avocados, cheese, edamame, and chocolate. She's starting to transition from 2 naps to 1, which is killing me. I didn't realize how much I was able to get done during nap time until I didn't have it anymore. At first, it was hard because she would be fussier and was even having a harder time sleeping at night. For awhile she would even protest sleeping at all during the day and the only way she would fall asleep was in a carseat or stroller. Thankfully it's gotten better. I just have to get used to using my time better. She still takes 2 naps occasionally and I really cherish those days (today is one of those days, which is why I'm able to blog!)




-We just love this little girl. She's such a sweetheart! Occasionally she'll be in the mood to give us hugs and kisses. She kisses inanimate objects all the time, like her books, stuffed animals, and the iPad, but it's rare that we ever get one. And she would hug every animal and other little kid if we let her. She just gets giddy when she sees a dog... it's so funny! She's getting better at petting them the right way rather than grabbing their faces :) I took her to the zoo last week and her favorite part by far was the petting zoo! She's a major animal lover! I've started doing more play dates with her so she won't be completely shocked when she gets to nursery. She really enjoys being around other kids, especially if it's at our house and she can show off all of her toys to them.  She still says "aww" when she cuddles a blanket or stuffed animal.

this is how Emily makes friends :)

excited to share her toys


sorry she tackled him, Kendra :)

She's a doll! We say every day how lucky we were to end up with such a sweet, good, adorable, happy baby and it's so true! I just wish we could freeze time :)


Monday, December 16, 2013

It's Christmastime!

We've finally finished getting all of our Christmas stuff together! We LOVE having a house to decorate this year! I only wish that the season was a little bit longer so we could enjoy it more, but we're just soaking it all in right now. We're so thankful for both of our moms who donated a whole bunch of their old Christmas stuff so we could fill our house with fun decor. I would say about 75% of our decorations are hand-me-downs and we just love them!


OUTSIDE:
I made a few adjustments to my ornament wreath from a few years ago, but it's surprisingly still holding up pretty well!


The snowman and tree have since been moved, but we didn't take a pic of them in their new place

When we first saw this house, I told Grant I wanted to put a tree up in that window above the door. There's a landing inside for it to sit on and I couldn't be more happy with the way it turned out!


INSIDE:


I made this advent calendar last year, but we haven't been good about using it :( Hopefully next year when Emily's older we'll be better!




my mom was getting rid of her nutcracker collection and we just happened to have the perfect place for them!

send us your Christmas cards! They will be on display for everyone to see!


olive wood nativity I got in Jerusalem






we still need a tree topper... that's the one thing we're still missing. And our tree looks a little bit silly because we can't put ornaments in Emily's reach :)

all ready for Christmas!

We really can't wait for Christmas to get here! We're so excited to see Emily's reaction to everything! We hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas as well!!





Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Thanksgiving in Fort Wayne

We had a great Thanksgiving break and I can't believe Christmastime is already here! Even though we were out of town for Thanksgiving, we still decorated our house for the season:



we made a thankful tree for FHE one night :)

Our trip to Indiana was so much fun! Emily loved being able to play with cousins and get lots of attention. She especially loved all of the Zinn boys because they reminded her of her daddy :) 

on our way... LOTS of time on the plane and in the car! She was a trooper!

so glad we got to see some snow!

I loved her Thanksgiving outfit :)





she LOVED her first pickle!


it was her first time getting really bundled up. She didn't know what to do! She walked with her hands stuck out straight and tipped over a lot

go Owen!

bowling with daddy


Emily got jealous when I was reading with Ava :)

All but 3 of the Zinn cousins

She was very excited to see that a doggie came

getting to meet baby Paxton


Grant always insists on taking carry-ons. It's a lot of work, but I'm grateful for such a helpful husband!

Thanks Zinn family for such a great vacation! We're sad it's already over, but we're looking forward to our next visit! 
We decorated for Christmas before we left so we could come home to it. We still have a few things to finish, but pictures will be coming soon! We're loving having our own home to decorate for Christmas this year!