And it begins...

Thus far in Emslee's life, I have felt extremely grateful that she was not a child that was into absolutely everything. Life was pretty calm - I didn't have to worry about her exploring every little thing she could get her hands on.
Until yesterday....
I was having a super stressful day, trying to get caught up on bills, housework, and preparing for my visiting teachers and then my family to come visit. I turned my attention away from Emee for what seemed like just a moment and...


That's right! She found my makeup! Look closely. It is all over her! You can't even see all the spots on the carpet. It was EVERYWHERE! The best part was that Emee just started laughing and smiling. What a kid!

Her latest trick

Emslee has officially started crawling up the stairs. Scary! She's not perfect at it yet, but she's getting there. This photo was taken the other night when my family came to visit. We had to show her off, of course! She got so excited going up the stairs, I thought she might hyperventilate. She loves learning new things.

Happy 10 months!

I can't believe my little girl is already ten months old! I know, I say that every time I post. She's just grown up so fast, it's hard to believe it sometimes!
At ten months, Emslee is almost a stand-up comedian. She loves to make people laugh, and will do anything to get a reaction. She walks, albeit tentatively, while holding onto furniture and whatever else she can get a hold of. One of her favorite things to do is crawl over to mommy and pull herself up while holding onto my pant leg. However adorable this is, it can become frustrating when I'm trying to get things done. Emee loves to crawl, and is a speed demon! She gets excited every time we get in the car to "go find da-da," loves to eat at the table with the grown-ups, and loves to tease. Every time Jason attempts to change her diaper, she tries to run away and laughs the entire time. She also does this totally cute little thing with her mouth and fingers that sounds like a slobbery motorboat. She has now started trying to do the same thing on other peoples' mouths. It's hilarious!
Her favorite toy is, surprisingly, mama's makeup. She loves to play with it, chew on it, and make messes with it. I learned very quickly to keep it out of reach!
We sure love our little girl, and love watching her grow! Happy 10 months, Emslee!

Emslee's Christmas Dress

This year for Christmas I wanted to sew a dress for Emee. I, as most of you know, am simply not very good at sewing. I'm not very domesticated at all, but I am trying. I bought the pattern, fabric, buttons, and everything else necessary. Then I enlisted the help of my mom, who is an excellent seamstress. She helped me get Emslee's dress sewn and it turned out so pretty, if I do say so myself. Emee especially loved it, because she got to play with the flowers attached to the ribbon at the bottom.

The holidays

I know, I'm behind. I like to blame it on a sweet little girl that cries all night and whines all day. I thought for sure she had an ear infection so I took her to her pediatrician. But nope, she's perfectly healthy. So I guess she's crabby for no reason at all. Purrr-fect.

We had such a great time over the holidays. We got to spend a lot of time with family and friends. Katie and her crew drove up from New Mexico. I have missed them so much! We spent hours and hours playing games, visiting, and baking. Jason, Emslee and I spent as much time as possible during the break in Preston because I "needed" to see my sister. (That is a need, right?) Below are a few snapshots of our holidays. We had so much fun!

Katie and Sevannah, all festive in red.

Emee and Mommy.

The beautiful angels in our nativity on Christmas Eve. Oh and we can't forget the little wise man who tried to sneak his head in at the last second.

Emslee, styling in her new pj's made with love by Grammie Jo.

Grandpa Dave with Emee...she's trying to decide if he's a bad guy or a good guy...

Christmas morning. As you can tell, Jason was pretty tired. ;-)

Aunt Sarah holding Emslee. We were so glad they were able to come for Christmas this year!

Trevin had tigers on his new pajama pants, so he had his mom make a shirt to match. So cute!

Now that is how you open a present!

9 months old!

Emslee turned 9 months old on December 21st, which just happened to be the day we took her to see Santa. She, of course, had no idea why she was sitting on some strange old man's lap, but was such a good sport anyway! At nine months Emslee crawls all over the place, and explores everything she can find. She loves to clap her hands and squeal in delight. She laughs all the time, and now has 6 beautiful pearly white teeth, which she absolutely HATES for me to clean. She says Mama and Dada constantly, and Aunt Karyn is working hard on getting her to say Kare-Kare. All in good time, I'm sure. Emslee still loves her bathtime, the sound of crinkling paper, being tickled, and talking on the phone. I can't believe how grown up my little girl is! I love you Emee Jo!