Robin and I work in extended care during church once every 8 weeks and starting this month we get to be in Emma’s room. We love getting to watch her interact with her friends. I will say that it can be very tough to keep 18-24 month old kids entertained for an hour and half during church. :) Thankfully, we found a bubble machine in the room towards the end of our time and we just left it on for about 10 minutes. :) The kids loved it!

Emma and I have started to go to Jenks’ Stay and Plays through Parents as Teachers on Friday mornings. We started going back in April but only got to go a few times before school was over. Emma had a great time last Friday meeting the other kids and playing on the playground- it was a beautiful day!

Emma loved playing with the sand and shovel:

We took Emma to get her 2nd ‘official’ haircut on Friday night. Her hair is growing slowly but lately it’s just been so uneven in the back and I hoped that a cut would help her hair lay better. We went to Banbury in Jenks and just loved it. They treated her like royalty which is ok every now and then. :) She got sit in a really cute car, wear a pretty leopard apron, and watch a movie!

Isn’t this adorable? Emma felt like such a big girl!
She watched Baby Einstein during her 3 minute haircut

Nana and Emma during her haircut:
Emma and Nana hung out on a bench on Main St. in Jenks for a few minutes after her haircut- Emma got a sucker for being such a good girl:

Today is Emma’s 5th day of school and she still loves it! I was afraid that she would soon catch on to the fact that I leave her all day two days a week but she continues to walk right on into her class and kinda acts like she owns the place! :) She cracks me up. Her first week of school, she learned about the color red. For the past two weeks she has been pointing out all things red to us. She points to an object and says “THAT IS RED!!!” and then laughs hysterically.

She has also begun to correct us and asks us to do things the way Miss Kathy and Miss Michelle (her 2 teachers) do things. For instance:

I used to give her whole bananas without the peel and she ate them like that. Now, she says “cut it like Miss Kaffy.” So, now I cut her bananas.

Also, when we give her a paci (yes, we are trying to wean) she says “Wash the paci first.”

We have started to second guess if school was a good idea b/c we are getting lots of correction from Emma regarding the way things should be done! :)

Here are a few pics from her first two weeks:

Emma’s 3rd day- she insisted on dragging her backpack out- she was tired!

telling us something important about school:
4th day of school- she was so excited!

…making sure mommy packed her bag correctly (notice Koby in the window.)

Emma was a little tired this morning…(notice Koby in the window again!)

Ok, so I don’t plan to take Emma’s picture every morning before school for the rest of her life, I promise. I just couldn’t resist these first few weeks!

This was me for about 7 miserable days! I got sick during Emma’s first week of school and was pretty much out of commission for a entire week. I am just now feeling 100% and back to my old self. I pray that I don’t ever feel that sickly again. It was horrible! I ended up in the emergency room that Saturday for dehydration but felt much better after getting some fluids. So, I’m back and I plan to catch up on some much needed blogging in the next couple of days.

Were any of you all sick this past few weeks? I hear that it’s going around everywhere. :(

Our little girl is growing up WAY too fast!

Today was Emma’s first day of preschool at South Tulsa Baptist Church, our home church. The start date was pushed back one week due to construction that took place on the preschool wing over the summer.

Unfortunately, mommy wasn’t feeling too great so I had to chug a half a bottle of Pepto Bismol before taking her to preschool so I wouldn’t get sick in the car. (not exactly how I pictured taking my baby to school on her first day, but oh well!)

Daddy helping her shovel in the oatmeal because we were almost late to school! (and yes, I put her shoes and socks on while she was in her highchair to save time. :))
First lunch: green beans, dried fruit, banana, apples, cheese, and juice

Walking in to class like a big girl- she did NOT want our help carrying her backpack or her lunchbox
I’ll post a video a little bit later. :)

Some of my favorite memories from childhood were spent with my 2 cousins, Jeff and Steve. Unfortunately, we usually only saw them once or twice a year because they lived in Kansas, then Colorado. They were the coolest cousins a little girl could ever have. I really looked up to them and was (and am) so proud of them.

Now we are all grown up and we each have kids of our own! I haven’t had a chance to meet Jeff’s 2 kids yet but this weekend I got to spend a lot of time with Steve’s 2 girls. Olivia is 3 and a half, and Madeline is 8 months old. They are beautiful girls and we had a great time getting to know them.

Emma was in heaven. She got to hang out with a “big girl.” She was so hilarious copying everything Olvia did. Peer pressure sure starts early! If Olivia brushed her hair, Emma brushed her hair. If Olivia was coloring, Emma wanted to color. If Olivia laughed, Emma laughed. Olivia taught Emma how to have parades and picnics in the house- she is very creative!

Emma also loved taking care of the “baby.” She was so sweet to Madeline. She couldn’t get close enough to her- she kept trying to hug her, kiss her, stroke her, love on her. Madeline is the best baby I have ever met. She is so happy, so content.

We were sad to see them leave today. Ironically, they had to travel home to Louisiana driving TOWARDS Hurricane Gustav! They live in Shreveport and are hoping to miss the worst of the storm.

Here are a few pics from our weekend:

Nana with her girls:

Playing with salt and pepper shakers at dinner:

Brandon was a really good sport- Olivia put these things on his head to make a pretty hat!:

We love you Olivia and Madeline- hope to see you again soon!