Happy Easter!!

We got all dressed up and headed over to the Marine Corp base for an Easter Egg hunt only to find out that it was yesterday. Oh well, not that Eme really would have know what was going on anyway. We still have a boat Easter party to go to so she will get to hunt eggs there. So instead we headed over to Pinky's, our favorite pupu bar and grill, to eat a yummy breakfast buffet. It was really good. Brad and I had mimosas, eggs Benedict with crab cakes and spinach, salmon with lobster and crab in a yummy cream sauce, fruit, prime rib, and the typical breakfast foods. It was very good. Eme had some french toast which was a first for her. She loved it. She was getting tired so we made it a quick breakfast and headed home for a nap for all. Here are some pictures from this morning.

Eme reading the Easter book to Daddy

Eme excited that she got a cute little Easter bunny basket from our friends next door.

Happy Easter all dressed up, head to toe navy and pink

Eme was toast since it was close to nap time. She was a trooper and made it through the meal with out too much fussing. She decided that she was done and ready for her nap so she used her new bunny lovey as a pillow on the table. Thanks Grandma! That is her new sippy cup with a straw that she loves.

Here is Brad's boat coming home yesterday.

Special outfits & Signs

I have to post a few pictures of Eme in her newest outfits. A very good friend in Washington sent Eme some new onsies that she decorated for her. She is very talented and has made these for some other friends too. Now Eme gets to join the ranks of the cool kid shirt club. Thanks Vaiva!!

Eme in her new Initial shirt.

It has a special friend on the back. It is an elephant. A new animal to learn about.

And a purple subbie shirt!!! While I was taking pictures, Eme was doing some sign language too. Here is her sign for please. You are suppose to rub a circle on your chest and she kind of swipes her hand across her chest. Here is a Thank You to Vaiva. She hasn't yet learned to pull her hand away from her mouth yet. This is also her sign for blowing/throwing kisses, again she doesn't get the hand motion yet. She does know the difference and context to use them. If she hears the words, she will make the sign.
Here is "all gone" or "all done". I am not sure if this is one that is official but it works for us.

Here is more. She has been using this for a while now when she wants more food and I have gotten her to combine it with please, so she signs "more please". She has recently started using it for other things, like when she wants another book or to read it again. Also, when she wants another song or more outside/stroller time. This is where did it go or I don't know. Again probably not an official sign. And this is Eme walking toward me after she was done with pictures.

I am trying to work some additional signs into her language so that she can learn to communicate with us a little more. I am using this website because it is pretty easy to understand. I also have a book and a few dvd's too.

I better put my running shoes on!!!

So Eme has been cruising along for the past few months. We all thought that she would be an early walker. But she has not really wanted to get up an go until now. Recently, she has been taking steps like this every so often. I have been trying for weeks to catch her on video but every time I pull out the camera, she sits down and shakes her head at me as if to say "No pictures". For the most part, she is still crawling.

Please pardon the outfit, she has been sick and I keep having to change her top or bottom because she has an accident or throws up on it. Needless to say, I have stopped trying to have her match when she is at home.

And yes, that is a necklace on her. It is actually an amber teething necklace that a mom sent me from one of the online mommy groups I visit a lot. She said it helped her daughter and she wanted to pass it on to someone who was teething. So I figured what the neck, I will try anything within reason right now. The poor kid is just had one molar come through and another one is poking out now. That will make her third molar. Her teeth count is at 7 on top and almost 6 on bottom.

I hope you enjoy this. I worked hard to capture it.

A few videos for our fans

Eme has been really sick for the past week, well not really sick she just throws up every afternoon and has an ear infection and is very congested. Way more than I really want her little body dealing with at one time. Anyway, we have had a lot of time together because I have not been able to take her to day care so we have been playing and reading lots of books. We recently received a bunch of hand-me-down toys that included lots of new books. Instead of playing with the toys, Eme's first choice out of the bag was a book. What can you say when you have two geeky parents? Besides, I make her watch "Sid The Science Kid" on PBS every morning so she is going to be somewhat geeky, right?? So anyway, we have been reading lots of books over and over and over and over again. So, you may ask, "Has she learned anything?". Well, watch the below video and you will see what she has learned.

I hope you enjoyed the video. I have some more that I can post. I am trying to get video of Eme doing what walking that she does right now to show the progress but she sits down every time I pull out the camera.

Oh, Eme has another dr's appointment to see what is wrong with her. She has been really congested, runny nose and a cough. Then she started throwing up and hasn't stopped. She is on just liquids which is hard because anytime she sees food she wants it. She will stand under the counter and point up to where the banana tree is and point and grunt and squeal. She loves her some bananas. I will see what the dr has to say about it tomorrow. There are so many variables going on that we are pinning them down and weeding them out. It has been rough but at least she is staying somewhat hydrated. I was able to get her to keep down some oatmeal and applesauce today but she still had a few minor throwups. I hope that she is on her way to getting better.

Here are a few pictures that we recently took at Sears. First, a family photo at 1 year old.

Next, my 2 sailors.And last, Eme and I playing with flowers.

Update - Eme's birthday party and St Patrick's day

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been super busy and don't seem to be on the computer all that much right now. I am trying hard to get stuff packed up into storage and cleaned out a little bit. It seems to be very cathartic as I keep doing more and more. We got a 9x13 storage unit for a super deal so I am trying to get the house into shape.

Eme's birthday party went pretty well. We had major rain that morning so the pool idea was out so we ended up in the house playing with Eme's toys. It worked out very well and I think everyone had a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures from the morning.

Here is a family shot after cake time. I made reduced sugar cupcakes, mini cupcakes. 68 of them to be exact. I iced 24 of them the night before and they turned out really cute. I figured that the kiddos would not mind not having all that sugar in them and they really did not taste all that different. I also made sausage pinwheels for the adults, which got rave reviews. I love making them because they are so easy and really are tasty!! By the way, Eme is holding a Mum Mum cracker instead of eating cake. She did not want the cupcake and actually spit it out.

Here is Xavier trying to get the balls out of the Penguin, which was a gift from the Lambert's. Thank you Wendy and Chris.

Here the kiddos are watching Eme open her presents.

Later that day we did some laundry so Eme helped. She likes watching the stuff spin in there.

Here are some pictures from St. Patrick's Day. She was playing with the favors from her party, wrist warmers/sport wristbands whatever you call them. She wore them on her ankles for most of the day.

PS, Grandpa, here is a picture of her bowling ball head for you. I took these and thought WOW she really does have a round head. Anyway, I think the hair do really accentuates it.

Hey camera, look at me. This is the look of trouble!!! I have a hard time not melting when she looks at me now, I can't wait to see how I react when she is asking for the car. And this is a picture of her March 18th after her 1 year well baby check up. She had to have her blood drawn so she is sporting a pretty pink pressure bandage. She did really well while they took her blood. She did have a light bruise a few days later.

So that is a little update for you. Sorry it took so long to get them up. I will have more soon.

Happy Birthday My Love

Happy Birthday to Eme!!! Here are some pictures from her first few days and her birthday yesterday.

Mommy and Eme at Tripler Hospital in Hawaii.Daddy and Eme minutes after her birth. I love the expression on her face. "Hi Pops!"
Little Angel sleeping in the hospital the day we went home.
Our first Easter together as a threesome.
Our friend Vaiva did this with her daughter Katrina and I thought it was a cute idea so we did it too. This is a big purple bunny that I bought to use as a growth chart for Eme. Each month, I took her picture next to the bunny so that we can compare her growth from month to month. I will share with you her first month picture which was taken 3/23 and her 1 year picture. What a big girl. I want to take her picture with the bunny each year on her birthday for a few more years to come.

Here is Eme showing you where the Bunny's nose is -
and where her nose is. She can also identify her head, ears, mouth and we are working on her eyes. She can also point them out on other people and in a book.

Here is her birthday party. We have had a party in Houston before we left at the end of Feb with my parents and sister. We had this party last night with Mommy and Daddy. She will have another party next weekend with her friends. Man, I don't know that I can keep up the multi party tradition as she gets older. I made her mini cupcakes and iced them in pink icing. I had them on a plate but she promptly turned the plate upside down on her tray.
We had to show her how to put her finger in it and taste the icing. Then Brad broke the pieces up for her. She liked to put the pieces in her hand and squish them into crumbs. Then licked her hand.
Yummy icing!!!Daddy brought home these beautiful flowers for Mommy to celebrate the year with Eme. Isn't he sweet!!! Thanks honey! Our day started early with a dr's visit and shots. Eme got her MMR, Chicken Pox and Hep A. Mommy got her allergy shots too, one in each arm. Then we came home and Eme took her nap a little early. For lunch, she had yogurt for the first time. Then we played with some new toys. She went down for her second nap and I made her cupcakes. Daddy got home and Eme had dinner then we had her party. Eme got a bath and then off to bed she went. I think her first birthday went very well. She had presents to open from Grammy and Gramps along with a card from Great Grandmother and Grandpa. She got calls from her Granddad, her Grandpa, and her Auntie. She received lots of messages on Mommy's face book page and even an Ecard from Grandpa. Thank you to everyone for their birthday wishes. I will be making every effort to capture them all for her book.

The past year has been very long and hectic. At times, it seemed unbearable. You know, looking back it was rough but I would not trade it for anything in the world. I love having Eme in our life and I can't imagine our life without her. I can't wait for the many years to come. I am sure that there with be rough days in our future but I will get through them just like all moms out there do.

Happy birthday little girl, we love you!! You are our little Makana and you bring us joy every day. Love you always, Mom and Dad.

We are home

Yes, we made it home. We flew into Honolulu on Feb 23rd where Daddy picked us up at the airport. Brad actually beat us home from his underway. He went out on a 6 week, well actually only 5 weeks, underway. Hence the reason that Eme and I went traveling to see everyone. Anyway, the boat broke and they needed to come back into port and start repairs on it sooner than expected.

All has been well. Eme got back into the swing of Hawaii things pretty easy. I have been pretty productive with my list of things to do so that is why I have not blogged recently. I have actually had to erase some TV shows off the DVR because I have not had time to watch them.

So what has been going on??? I have had a list of things to get done for a while now and have not gotten to them. So I am in a good place to actually get things done. What things do I keep referring too??? Well, let me explain.

Day care for Eme- I have put her in a day care before but she was not crawling at the time so she would spend most of her time away from the other kids and I think this frustrated her. This was back in September. After a few days of picking her up when she was sitting in a corner crying, I decided to pull her and not take her back. Well after my trip to Texas, I realized that she really needs to make some friends her age and get some socialization badly. I mean how else will she learn to share her toys. I don't really share so I am not the best role model for that. I do realize that she will learn some nice behaviors that I probably will wish she did not learn, but that is life right. So anyway, I put her back into the same place because that was the only affordable option for right now. I wanted to see if now that she is mobile would she do better. YES, YES, YES!!! She is loving it. The first day she did not want to come home. I would pick her up and she wanted to get back down and play some more. She has been there for about a week and she is doing wonderfully!!! I stood outside the window and tear up everyday because I see her playing with the other kids or even by herself but she is having so much fun. There has only been one day that I picked her up when she was crying and that was partly my fault because I did not tell the teacher that she had a paci in her bag. So I am going to put her in 3 days a week for 3 hours at a time so that I can get some things done at the house and also so that I can schedule my appointments during this time.

Storage for the house- Hawaii houses are really small. I did plan for this and left some stuff that I knew that we would not need in Texas. Well, we have purged and purged and still have too much stuff. We are down to the things that I don't want to get rid of but really are not going to use here. So I am going to get a storage unit and store those items and some furniture to open the house up a little bit.

Projects for the house- We have a lot of projects that are either started and never finished or not started but really need to get done. I want to finish painting, finish the base boards, re-vamp the kitchen and a few other things. We have been here long enough that we need to get these projects done. I have also promised my parents that I will not have any house projects for them to do on their next visits because the last two they have done some pretty huge tasks for us. We love you and appreciate your help!! It is a shame that Janis and Merle don't live closer because we would love some of their help and knowledge too. Master home renovators they are!!! With Eme around it is a little hard to paint a room or get some other things done. Now that she is gone for a few hours, I have time to get some of this work done myself or arrange to get some help with it.

Getting in shape- Brad and I both need to get into better shape. He has been running at work because he has mandatory PT some mornings. He is really thrilled about this. I have been needing to lose some weight to help with my back problems. Since I have been back, I have started working out on the elliptical machine that is in our living room and I have been doing a little running with the dogs and Eme. My plan is to get up earlier than Eme to work out and start my day early. We will see if I can get that plan going. I have to work out very slowly because I do have major pain in my back when I work out. But I can't get rid of my back pain unless I exercise and strengthen those muscles. It is a viscous cycle but I have gotten through it in the past so I can do it again. I am also in Physical Therapy for my back so that has also jump started my exercise program.

Enjoying Hawaii- We have lived here for a over a year and a half and Brad still has not seen some pretty obvious sites. I have not been to some pretty obvious sites too, but I have played the tour guide to family and friends so I have seen a lot more. So last weekend we toured the North Shore. We had some shave ice, ate at Cholo's (a pretty well advertised Mexican food restaurant, that was not really all that great in my opinion. Yes, I have a very high standard for my Mexican food but what do you expect from a Texas girl??), and went to the Dole Plantation. If you ever visit me here, I will take you on the tour of the island according to this travel tour that tells you all about the sights and sounds of the island, while we drive the island. I did not get it for our trip so I gave Brad the "Lauren" version since I have listened to it about 5 times now. I must say that the "Lauren" version is not as good since I only remember the points that interest me and really butcher some of the pretty important other points. Anyway, point being that we did some touristy things and got out of the house. I hope that we can continue to do this but I have to come up with a list of some things that we can do with Eme that don't always include to Beach.

Go to bed earlier- I want both of us to go to bed earlier so that we are getting the best rest that we need to be fully functional the next day. Easier said than done, but I have been pretty tired at the end of the day so it hasn't been to hard. Another reason that blogging has been lacking as I usually do this later in the evening after catching up on TV shows.

So that is what we/I have been up to. Sorry that I have not been a better blogger. Once I get some of my tasks completed, I will update you. I will try to post some pictures soon too.

Hearts to Everyone

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers! Love & aloha to you all! Let me know that you were here by leaving me a comment. Also, follow me or sign up for updates on the right hand side.

Lauren & Eme

I am so proud!!

I am such a proud mommy!! Eme said Mama Feb 10th, 2009 at 7:20 am. We were in Little Rock, Arkansas waiting to board a Southwest plane back to Houston, Texas. I was so proud even though I think it was said in protest. I had just pryed her mouth open to retrieve the napkin piece that she was eating. She turned away from me and tried to get into her diaper bag while in the stroller and went "mama mama mama" while crying. I asked her what she just said and she looked at me and said "mmma". I will take it even in protest!!! i have only been waiting 11 months for that moment. I called here daddy's cell even though I knew he would not pick up to share the joy of the moment. She says it off and on throughout the day. Her little face is so cute when she makes the sound as she purses her lips to say it.

We were just in Memphis, TN visiting with GrandDad and Grandma D. We also visited with Brad's Uncle Jack & Aunt Nancy and Aunt Heather & Uncle Fred. Kristin, Brad's sister, also joined the fun. We had a great time and it was great to catch up with all the family. I am so glad that they were all able to see Eme. Eme did really well with all the new faces.

We are now in Hallettsville, TX visiting with Grammy and Gramps. We have seen Brad's grandparents as well. We will be here until the end of the week. Eme is having fun playing with the big dogs, Storm and Natasha. Each time she sees them she says "da Da".

I am so amazed at her every day. She is learning so much and showing us what she has learned. I need to do a list of what she can do before her first birthday so that I have a record of it to put in her baby book. I will put that on my list. I am making notes of that dates these milestones are happening on for record keeping.

Anyway, I thought I would update my readers with what is going on during our vacation. More later with pictures too. Heading to bed for another big day ahead.

Leaving on a Jet Plane-

Hey all, We are packed and ready to take our big trip. I hope to post while I am gone but if I don't get a chance I will post when I get back. I look forward to seeing everyone soon!