Weekend fun!

getting the monkeys...we have the same picture of emerson

trying to get two to smile at the same time is very difficult

carter trying to eat emerson

carter and I went to get emerson up from her nap and she really wanted to read to him

lately emerson has really wanted to hold carter, but it's usually a little too tight...i think there may be two smiles in this one!

chewing on anything and everything

how did you get over there? when i left you were on the blanket?!

"thank you daddy for my pool...you want to get in?"

This was the first weekend Nick had off since we got back from colorado so we tried to have lots of fun family time. emerson loves to be outside but not having a yard makes that a little difficult when we have to hang around the house when carter is napping so we decided to get emerson a pool. She had a blast in it today, the only issue being that she didn't want to wear her swimsuit...oh well!
emerson is very into picking out her outfit for the day and if i even try to dress her without her input she has a major meltdown. The only problem with this is that she wants to wear a dress or skirt everyday, it's not that i mind her wearing either of those but i don't exactly do laundry everyday and she has so many cute pairs of shorts that I want her to wear. After she gets dressed she usually says, "oh mommy this is pretty!"
Carter is all over the place. I wouldn't technically call what he is doing crawling, but he definitely pushes himself forward. It's kinda like the army crawl. He loves to talk to us and emerson always tells us what she thinks he is saying. He's chewing on everything, but no sign of teeth yet. We go to the doctor at the end of the week for his 4 month check-up and are hoping that we can start cereal because he watches us pick up our food from our plate and put it in our mouth and then starts chewing.
It feels like summer hit hard this week. It's hot and humid, which means two sweaty kids at the end of the day...okay and a sweaty mommy. The heat doesn't seem to bother them so I guess I should just suck it up. We are looking forward to a short week for nick and then fourth of july weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

I want to wish Nick a very happy father's day! I got up early this morning and made him breakfast in bed because he had to go to work at 10. It was definitely a bummer that he had to work today. Nick is an amazing father and emerson and carter are so lucky to have him. they each have special bonds with him that i know will continue to grow throughout the years. I could go on and on about him and all the wonderful things he does with them but that could take hours. I just want him to know that we are all better because of him and the love that he gives us. Happy Daddy's Day!

I'm back...

Sorry to all of you that read my blog that I have been MIA for the past month. We went to Colorado for two and a half weeks at the end of may and beginning of june. My sister malorie graduated from high school and nick's sister lacey got married. I decided that it would be easier to just stay there for a long vacation instead of making two trips with the kids. Nick had to come back to ohio for work in between the two special days, but lucky me I didn't have to fly by myself with emerson and carter. They both did great on the plane...it's just managing all the "stuff" you need to take with you when traveling with a two year old and a baby that is challenging. I talk about all the events in greater detail in the blogs below...
We had a great trip and it was really nice to have so much help with the kids. It was a hard adjustment to come home to because emerson and carter were so used to having 100 percent attention on them at all times.
My parents worked during the week, but my sister was home with me almost everyday. I don't know what I would have done with out her and begged her to come live with us this summer. The first words out of emerson's mouth every morning were "where's mal-mal?" And as soon as my mom and dad came home from work it was "mimi what are you doing?" and "pa, where you at?" Carter also got lots of cuddle time with everyone, which they all loved because when emerson was his age she would only let me and nick hold her.
We also got to see Nick's mom and husband Pete and spend some good time with them. Emerson went swimming with gran and helped make dinner with her. They also got to sit and sing all their songs together. Oh and I can't forget to mention that Lacey let emerson help put chocolate icing on a cake...i think more got on her face and clothes than on the cake.
Nick's dad and girl-friend Dawn were also there and we got to spend some time with them. We went to emerson's favorite store "the sports store" a.k.a dick's and pop and emerson did some putting, played in the tents, and rode some bikes. Seriously we can and have spent hours in that store entertaining emerson.
I think this was the first time emerson and carter got to see all their grandparents at once. We didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked with gran and pete and pop and dawn so we are hopping to make up for that with some upcoming trips.
Since we have been back, two weeks ago today, it has been crazy around here. Nick has had to work a lot and I had an allergic reaction to neosporin and broke out in a rash all over my body. I have been an itchy mess and getting no sleep at night because of it. I have been to the doctor three times and I am now starting to feel better. I am hopping that life will calm down a little around here, but you never know. Nick's schedule is much better through July so I know that will help! We are going to start to work on potty training...oh what fun...so wish us luck!

random pics from colorado

this is emerson pushing the buggie i used to push my dolls around in...and it was my mom's before that! so special

carter hangning out with pa...they did lot's of this while we were there

emerson and gran eating lunch

pete meeting carter for the first time...he's a natural

gg ruby loved holding carter

uncle tyler and carter chillin'...we have this exact picture of tyler with emerson

mal-mal and carter cuddling...they did lots of this and I know he misses her!

both wearing "i love daddy" pj's...carter's are a little girly because they used to be emerson's. what's funny is that she wore those until she was 11 months and he fills them out perfectly...sorry buddy you're in girl pj's!

wait...how did i get up here?

Picnic

The day after the wedding they had a picnic, which was great because all night long nick and i heard, "where are the kids? we want to meet carter and see emerson." There were lots of family there and many family friends so emerson put on a show for everyone and showed all her tricks and carter got to snuggle with lots of people.

Lacey's wedding

Lacey got married! Nick and I now have a brother-in-law...Jamie. The wedding was very nice and sweet. They really personalized it and made it about the two of them. They wrote their vows (amazing), had a cupcake wedding cake with five different flavors (very yummy), and had a big open room with lots to drink and eat. Nick and I decided to take advantage of this special night and stay downtown in a hotel. We haven't done this since emerson was born and it was really great. We felt "normal" again not worrying what time it was and if we needed to leave soon. We just got to enjoy the night and then sleep in...well we tried to sleep in. I am still nursing so I had to get up and pump around 7 because my chest was as hard as a rock (sorry if that is too much info). But it was a night where I didn't have to get up and feed carter. We decided to get up and go to breakfast, which was also nice to have that time together at a restaurant just enjoying each other's company. As we were driving back to my parents house I was very curious on how the night went...and everything was great! Emerson had a blast and carter was a good boy. It made us think how nice it would be to live in colorado because we could have more of those nights out and emerson and carter could have special time with mimi and pa...who knows where we'll end up.

Rolly-Polly Carter

Carter started to roll while we were in colorado, just shy of turning 3 months. He was working really hard on it for a couple of days and then he did it...and hasn't stopped since! I can't leave him alone anymore because every time I do I come back to find him across the room. It's time to child-proof again! He also is blowing raspberries, doing long monologues, and holding toys (or should I say putting them in is mouth). He loves to smile and laugh. He is also sitting in the bumbo, something emerson loved, and I don't think he minds that it's purple. We finally got his room done and put together so he is in there. The first night he slept 10 hours! But the last two nights he has woken up two or three times...I am guessing that he is growing, but you never know. Oh and I have to mention that he is a drool monster! maybe teeth coming???

Butterfly Pavilion

There is a really neat butterfly pavilion about 10 minutes from my parents house so we decided to go one morning. I guess you can say it is like a big green house with hundreds and hundreds of butterflies flying everywhere. You kinda feel like you are in the rain forest because it is very humid and damp. Emerson didn't know what to think when we walked in because there where butterflies everywhere and she couldn't look and point to them fast enough. If you're lucky they land on you, but emerson didn't like that very much. A couple landed on my backpack and carter's blanket and she said,"please don't do that butterfly...get off!" A butterfly landed on her head and Mal was able to capture the moment, but we didn't tell her until after we left. We showed her the picture and she didn't like it one bit. In a different area there were all kinds of bugs and spiders in cages, but I let malorie take her to see them because I have a bug and spider phobia!

Malorie's graduation

My little sister isn't so little anymore. Malorie graduated from high school and I can barely believe it. Of course she had to outsmart me and graduate with honors and receive many awards. I was a little worried how the kids would do sitting there for an hour and a half, but they did great! Nick stood with carter in the Bjorn and emerson sat and listened. She kept saying, "where's mal-mal?" I don't remember listening to my own graduation, but the speeches were really good. Being the emotional person that I am, I teared up when one of the students gave a speech on thanking all the parents...emerson and carter will be walking across the stage before I know it. After graduation she and her friend had an awesome party! Malorie will be heading to the Culinary Institute of America in the fall in New York. We are so proud of her and so excited that she will be so close to us!