Emerick ~ 4 years old!

My "baby" turned FOUR! How did this happen?! I am holding onto the last little bits of his baby/toddler-ness. He is quickly transforming into a KID! I love the little man he is becoming. He has such a sweet soul. He just loves people! He loves to strike up conversations with strangers, and people are so drawn to him. He says the funniest things, and even though he doesn't really like to share his toys, he is such a great Big Brother! I love you Doodie Bear!

At 4 years old Emerick is:
41 pounds (88%)
3 ft 4 3/6 inches (55%)

Here are Emerick's preschool pictures! Taken at preschool by my friend Lindsay Parks. :-)

Home.

We put the offer in on our house on June 20th, and were supposed to close escrow on August 20th. Well, we finally closed on September 24th (34 days late!!) What a frustrating process that was. We've been trying to fix the place up before we move in. Once we are in, we have a long to do list of more updates.

 The previous owners had updated many things in the house like the roof, windows, doors, furnace, etc. But, most of the cosmetics were original from 1979. Lime green linoleum, faux stone linoleum (which totally looked like giraffe) Pea soup color carpet in the living room...

Here are some photos of our progress so far....

Kitchen before. 

Me moved the bar on the right down to the basement next to the washer and dryer. We would like to remodel/re-configure the entire kitchen someday, with white cabinets. Shortly after we move in we will take down the random cabinet on the right, paint, and figure out something to put on the empty wall on the right until we re-model someday.

front room before. 

                                    

 and after. we still need to caulk and paint the window/door trim, and add new baseboard moulding. 

                                          

front room before

                            

Once we paint the walls, the new baseboard moulding will go in. 

                            

backyard...

Little steps...

Lou started walking today! About 9-10 steps, but I know within the next week he will be full on walking everywhere!

Birthday.

This year we had a very small immediate family gathering for the boys birthdays. We've had so much going on since the fire happened, and with trying to get into our new house that this was all I had the energy to do. I think they loved it just the same as a large themed party with lots of people!

yeah - taking a picture of these two together.....ridiculous!

"yes"

Lou started shaking his head, (actually his whole body!) for "yes" last week. It's the cutest thing i've ever seen!!

It's a big world out there.

My sweet 13 month old boy, I love him soo much!

My shopping buddy.

Ever since the fire happened Emerick has asked me for a new shopping cart since he lost his old one. He finally got one! Now he likes to take it with him everywhere. He even took it into Starbucks the other day. He loves to shop :-)

Emerick's First Field Trip

Today I went along with Emerick and his preschool class on his first field trip - to the Pumpkin Farm! Emerick had a great time, and told me "Mama! What a wonder-pull day!" He is so sweet. Here are some iphone photos from the trip...

Louis ~ 1 Year Old!

Louis turned ONE YEAR this past Friday the 21st! He is so much fun to have around, he has been the perfect addition to our family. I can't wait to watch him continue to blossom. (not that I wish time to go even faster!) 

He has 4 teeth and two more peeking through. He is saying a handful of words. 

"uh oh"

"hello" 

"go go go" 

"who's that" ("hssssat")

"dada"

"papa"

"tickle tickle" ("ttt ttttt") while wiggling his little fingers like we do right before we tickle him :-) 

He is pretty close to walking, he stands up for long periods of time, but hasn't taken that first step independently. I am sure he could if he tried. He is finally sleeping through the night! He has gone through phases in the past where he sleeps through the night. I am hoping this time it sticks forever! He mostly takes two naps a day. But, with life being so crazy lately, he often only gets one. He is still nursing (no end in sight!) and has had some cows milk and seems to be fine with it. He loves all food that he has tried so far except watermelon and cantaloupe! Mama doesn't like melons either. 

This project of monthly snapshots with his giraffe has been so much fun! I only wish I had done this with Emerick :-( 

1 Year stats: 

21.6 inches (55%)

29.5 inches (40%)

49.5 head (98%!!!) 

Emerick goes to Preschool!

I cannot believe my baby is headed to school! These past (nearly) 4 years have flown by, and I have loved watching Emerick blossom into the most amazing little boy I know. He has a heart of gold, and is so outgoing and just a fun little person to be around.

May all your dreams come true little man!

Louis ~ 11 months

One more month till he's 1! His personality is to die for, and I think that shows in this monthly snapshot. He just cut his first top tooth, and 3 more top teeth are also about to come through. He has been pretty fussy while teething and needs to wear a bib all day long again because of the slobber ;-)

Happy Lou!

He is such a happy boy, we love him so much :-)

Life can change so quick..

So much has changed for our family in the past 2 months, I wasn't sure if I would ever blog about it. I am not really sure that anyone even follows this blog anymore, and people that may read it probably already know about it.

At 4:30 in the morning on May 29th, 2012 we were lucky to awake just in time, literally. Only a few minutes more and we wouldn't have made it out. As I ran up the back stairs, a sleeping Emerick in my arms, the fire just to my left- I fell, for a moment I thought I was actually on fire! I ended up with a small burn on my left shoulder (basically like a bad sunburn with a small, dime size blister) The fire was SO hot and so loud. I don't remember hearing any smoke alarms, only the loud sound of the fire itself!

 The home where we were living, and everything we have ever owned was gone in a matter of minutes. It took nearly 50 fire fighters 1 hour to get the fire under control.  I think we have all been in a daze ever since it happened. It doesn't seem real. It is the kind of thing that isn't supposed to happen to us. But it did.

On a happier note ~ we are about to move into this house. The first house we will actually own. Finally homeowners :-) 

Emerick Spidey!

Emerick is obsessed with wearing his Spiderman costume lately. Most days he likes to wear it whenever we go somewhere. Before we get out of the car, he puts the mask on and says "everybody is gonna say - "look! there's spiderman!"" and they do....and he loves it :-) here are some iPhone photos of Emerick Spidey in action!