A Visit with Sam

This past weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to attend Sam's baptism. On Thursday Grammy and Poppa came to our house and the next morning the five of us piled into the car and drove to Pittsburgh. We spent the day hanging out with Aunt Abby, Uncle Andrew and Sam. After dinner we all piled back into the cars and drove to Titusville, PA which is Aunt Abby's hometown. We spent the weekend at Dick and Susie Shaffer (Abby's parents) and the Bodamer family (Abby's sister's family) and Aunt Sue and Uncle Ben. It was a wonderful weekend with lots of time together and lots of good food! We were spoiled by the Shaffers and their hospitality. It was very fun to have Sam and Emma together to play. They especially enjoyed playing together with the beach ball...very sweet memories! I have attached a photo album to look through if you are interested. We took over 300 photos so it has taken me a while to go through them all and narrow it down.

Here is a link to the baptism if you would like to watch it. It will be up until Sunday, May 10.
http://www.gbstelevision.com/videos.php

Here is a slide show with a few highlights.

Here is Emma when she first got to play with Sam...true to her personality she attempted to dominate the situation from the beginning.


In this video we were trying to get Emma to crawl. She doesn't do it, but I think the dialogue between adults is hilarious.


Sam and Emma enjoyed playing with the beach ball. You will see Emma shaking at the beginning. That is what she does when she is super excited about something.


Here is more playing with the ball.


Before the church service Sam and Emma were talking, growling and flailing at each other over the pews...very sweet!

Hi, Uncle Ben!

Emma misses her Uncle Ben. She was looking through her bars of the crib and growling for him! We have had to put her bed on the lowest setting since when we got home from St. Louis she was able to pull herself up on the middle setting. She has figured out how to pull up from the lowest setting but at least she isn't going to topple over the edge. Now she just has to figure out how to get down...she has some bruises to show her efforts in doing so.

Not So Fun

Emma is trying to get her tooth to break through. She has been chewing on frozen teething rings and drinking ice water. The little precious one is miserable. Look at her sad little eyes.

She is so miserable that she doesn't even want to eat. This picture is just pitiful.

Emma is actively teething. One tooth has broken through and her other bottom tooth is working it's way out. She is miserable which in turn means that I am miserable. She just whines ALL DAY LONG and if she is put down she just cries and cries. I took her to the pediatrician this week just to be sure that her ears were not infected again...they are not...she is just spoiled from a trip to Grammy and Poppa's and is in pain from teething. We are working on alone time but she is just completely pitiful. I feel badly for her (and for myself, to be completely honest).

Splashing

It has happened...Emma has learned to splash. I left Mike alone with her for two minutes and heard him laughing and yelling for me. I came in to see Emma flailing her arms about and giggling as the water went everywhere. So much for staying dry at bath time! Enjoy the video. I caught the tail end of the splashing, but you will get the picture!

Nana and Papaw

The day before we left for St. Louis, Nana and Papaw came to visit us. Here are a few pictures from their visit. Emma had a great time playing with them and celebrating Nana's birthday with her.

Easter in St. Louis

Emma and Uncle Rich

We have spent the past week and a half in St. Louis with Grammy, Poppa, Great Grandma and Uncle Rich. It was a wonderful week together and Emma hit several milestones while we were there. Unfortunately we forgot the card reader and could not upload pictures until tonight when we got home. Because of that, this is a very long post with lots of pictures video and details all in one post.

On the way to St. Louis, Emma started clapping. She is very proud of herself and claps all day long. Several days later we realized that she was waving to Grandma while she was waving at Emma. She is trying to figure out how to move her fingers to wave but has the arm motion down and understands when to do it. She spent the whole week working on her crawling skills. She is still a ways from crawling, thankfully, but she spends all of her time on the floor trying to figure it out. Emma continues to be very busy and keeps us on our toes!

While we were in St. Louis, Grammy found Emma's first tooth! There were no signs of teething but there are little white peaks sticking out of her gum. Since it started to poke through she has been in a lot of pain and very sensitive. We think the tooth next to it is ready to come up as well.

The best part of the trip was that Emma was able to meet Uncle Rich and spend time with him. She loved Uncle Rich and attached to him right away. They had lots of sweet time playing together and Emma even cuddled with Uncle Rich...she doesn't do that very often at all! We were so sad to say goodbye but so thankful for that time.

Here are some pictures and video to highlight the trip. Enjoy!

All Ready for Church on Easter

Grammy cooked wonderful meals the whole time we were there! What a treat!

Thanks for a great trip Grammy and Poppa!

Emma in her Bunny Ears!

Emma is modeling her nose crinkle in this picture. She has learned to smile at someone then crinkle her nose and shake her head. Very charming!

Emma spent lots of time swinging at the park! It was fun to go to the park with Uncle Rich, Grammy and Poppa throughout the week despite the weather. Emma gets so excited on the swings.

All bundled up...it was cold, rainy and cloudy most all of the trip but that didn't keep us from the park.

Swinging with Poppa is fun.

Emma enjoyed swinging at the park so much that Grammy and Poppa bought a swing for their yard so Emma could swing whenever she wanted to!

Here is Emma chowing down on a teething ring.

What a great picture!

Cuddle time with Uncle Rich

Emma loves her sippy cup

Grammy had the rare privilege to hold Emma for one of her naps. They rocked on the porch and enjoyed the only nice day we had in St. Louis.

More fun in the swing

Such a sad face...her mouth was hurting very much.

We enjoyed a meal out on the porch Wednesday night all together.

So fun!

Emma had lots of attention and now has to relearn how to play by herself.

Emma got to meet her cousin Preston. Preston is my cousin Steven's son and it was fun to watch them play together. Emma just kept squealing and grabbing Preston's ears.

Sunshine and smiles

This first video is a glimpse into Emma's attempts to crawl. She gets so frustrated and just cries. We are working to keep a balance between letting her be frustrated and rescuing her. She is a very strong little girl.



Here is Emma showing off her newly found clapping skills. If you listen carefully you can hear Grandma talking to her. Emma would look at Grandma and just smile and clap at her. It was very sweet.



This is a clip of Emma swinging. She did not squeal and tense up her entire body but it does capture her smiles and sweetness.


There are many more pictures...what a surprise! We had a great time and are so thankful to Grammy and Poppa for everything!

Another Ear Infection

Well, we went to the doctor this morning and Emma does indeed have another ear infection. It is not nearly as bad as last time, but an ear infection nonetheless. As I shared in the last post, she has had a cold and been clingy and whiny all week. Other than that there were no symptoms of an ear infection. I am sure glad that I took her. Here are just a few pictures.

Emma has not been interested in eating at all this week. This is how she stares at me the entire time. Poor baby!

This is Emma's favorite toy. She will sit for a long time and play with the keyboard. I walked into the room the other day and just saw her sitting there playing with her back to me and wanted to capture it.

Then she realized I was there. She will hit a key and it will play a series of notes and she will look at me to sing it back to her. She also likes to take our fingers and hit the keys with them. Hopefully she has her Daddy's musical talent and love!