Kiki's Etsy Shoppe

Just a quick shout out for our friend Kiki..... go and check out her new spot on etsy! She is the most talented, creative person I've ever met!

THIS Tues/Wed. March 30/31st is her celebration sale to kick off the new shoppe....20% off everything!!! YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS IT!

Go HERE!

1 year photo shoot

So, I'm pretty sure lots of begging (from several people) got Kara to come out of maternity leave a little sooner than she expected.....she just does such great work though!!

Here's lots of pics from Emri's 1 YEAR photo shoot! I love them....can you tell?? I'm sorry that Emri's baby mullet struggles at times! I hardly do my hair.... somebody needs to tell me what to with hers! ha ha!

Tell me which you like the best? You can click on each pic to enlarge. ENJOY!

I love this next edit...doesn't she look like she came from old fashion times? so sweet!

These were just before St. Patty's Day, so Kara threw in some cute green flare!

Classic! Right in the dimple!

So big!

So sweet and innocent!

I think this one below is my fave! That face melts my heart!

And of course, it wouldn't be a photo shoot with E unless she hams it up a bit!

A birthday balloon....

So fun! Thanks a million Kara! You know we love you!

If you are in the Columbus area and want a photo shoot, there is only one spot left before they move :( ...check her photo blog HERE for info.

Spring Break Visitors

In the 3rd year of dental school, each student is assigned one of the between-quarter breaks to report to clinic. Brett had his assignment this past week, so he didn't get much of a "break." Brett's parents got to come out so it was a real treat for us even though Brett had to be in the Emergency Clinic!

The weather was PERFECT the whole time they were here! Thursday we played at the park.... Emri took her first (and 100th) turn on the slide and loved every second!

She played on the swings with Grandma...

Grandpa blew her bubbles and also added a cute accessory to her stroller (a pinwheel) that now fascinates her during our walks...

The geese have been abundant in the pond behind our house, so we took them some bread. Emri had only seen them from a distance so far this year. When grandpa got right down on their level with E she started to cry! I think she thought he was going to feed her to the geese! It took her a while to forgive him!

Friday afternoon we went to the zoo. Brett finished clinic early and met up with us there (hence the attire)!

The bears were VERY active that day!! They wrestled around in the water then would stand up and paw at eachother. It was fun to watch them play....although, I don't know if I'd be "playing" if my friend had claws like that!

I think Emri is the most entertained by the aquarium each time we go to the zoo. I have to admit, it is pretty relaxing to sit back and watch all the tropical fish swim around....too bad it's not that relaxing at home to watch Herman the goldfish in Emri's room swim in circles in his little bowl (yep, still alive after 2 1/2 weeks)!

Emri petted some goats at the petting zoo...which I am not completely a fan of. Bring on the hand sanitizer!!! bleh.

Saturday we drove to Dayton and wandered around the National Museum of the US AirForce. The place is huge and you could easily spend a couple days or more learning and seeing all sorts of interesting stuff. We watched a movie on the IMAX screen about the Hubble Telescope which was quite amazing. It made me feel very insignificant when you think about outerspace and all the different solar systems, galaxies, stars, etc there are.

We also spent a lot of time in the hangar that had WWII planes and history. Pardon the name on the plane....but we wanted a pic in front of the B24 Bomber...Brett's Grandpa Anderton flew one of these planes in the war.

This thing was huge! I stood clear back and still couldn't get much of it in the picture.

On the way home Emri was trying sooo hard to figure out Grandma's water bottle! She was even willing to lose an eye just for a sip! ha ha!

Finally, she gave up (and so did Gma)!

Brett got a surprise early birthday celebration from his parents! I'm pretty sure he thinks he gets a month-long birthday now!

Somehow Emri ended up with gifts too....

She LOVE. LOVE. LOVES. her "bebe" and stroller/walker! It's so fun to see her get so excited about little things now!

All gussied up for church on Sunday....Emri is such a ham these days!

And, she definitely didn't lack in the kisses or snuggles while Gpa and Gma were here!

Thanks so much for coming to see, spoil,visit, spoil, treat, spoil, love, spoil, and play with us! I really think that is the best thing about living far away....when family or friends come, we get them all to ourselves the whole time they're here and we don't have to share their attention with anyone else! ;) We love and miss you already!

St. Patty's Day

We celebrated GREENIE day at the Nydegger's for dinner... we ate chicken caesar salad in green spinach herb wraps, garlic bread, artichokes, and a yummy green limeade "special drink." To top it all off, Megan made her amazing Greenie-Day Cake for dessert and we had been looking forward to it again since last year! mmmm!

Our festive family! So, Brett finished finals that morning and went golfing with the boys in the afternoon....it was obviously sunny! And Brett did Emri's hair....she wasn't too sure about it! ha!

Bexley looked so cute we decided to display her as the centerpiece!

All the girls (well, baby boy is in Meg's tummy!)

Thanks for the fun tradition Nydeggers!

SPRING FLING

So, a couple weeks ago I linked HERE through a friends blog. Some of you may have wondered what the heck that totally random list is?!?!... or noticed the"Spring Fling" button on my sidebar. Well, it was just a fun little challenge to get rid of 100 things before your actual spring cleaning this year...and do it by the first day of Spring (March 20). As you can see by my list I probably wont make 100 by that date, but it has been refreshing to get rid some crap. It's amazing to me how much stuff you can accumulate over time. When we first moved into our home in Ohio it felt SO empty...and now I feel like we've filled it...and then some. It's interesting too, to see some of the things that are on the top shelf of a kitchen cupboard that get pushed to the very back of the shelf...and if you are short like me you never see it. Like #16 and #18 on my list!

I totally plan on making the 100 mark. I will give myself a deadline of April 17. I'm hoping to have a yard sale this spring and that will be a good way to get rid of even more stuff! Anybody else up for the challenge?? Go ahead.....it feels great to FLING!! ha ha! Leave me a comment if you're in....I'd love to see what you're getting rid of!

FIVE THINGS....

FIRST---I left off a really funny part of the banana bread disaster and it's too classic not to document. So after the first puff of smoke billowed out of the oven, I called to Brett in a panic because I couldn't see what was going on in there and I didn't want to open it and let all the smoke out because that would set of the smoke alarm and Emri was napping. He came to see what was happening, left the room, then came back with vacuum in hand! He got the attachements out and stood with the hose at the top of the oven waiting for me to open it! ha ha ha! SERIOUSLY?! I was confused...real firemen use huge hoses that spray water....not small hoses that suck air! So, both of us laughing, I open the oven and smoke was still billowing out, and the dang hose wasn't much of a help! But, I'm sure you can picture Brett waving that thing around trying to get it all!! (Where was my camera on that one?!?) Good idea though babe! I love you! FYI---Today when I was vacuuming the whole place smelled up like smoke again! ahhhh!

SECOND---We have a pet. **gasp**--I know, ME?!?!? Well, it was against my will! It's a goldfish...named "Herman" (named by Brett, also given the nickname Hermie). Last night my dad was in town on business. We met him at the (auto) auction where they were putting on a dinner. They had goldfish in little bowls as centerpieces (which totally grossed me out while we ate). The joke all night was that Emri could take one home. I kept saying NO. Then, Brett gave in. I told him he could only bring it home if he fed it and changed the water....I will have NO responsiblities with it!

So, we get home from dinner and Brett ran to the pet store to get some goldfish food....and came home not only with food, but a bigger fish bowl, a fish net, rocks, and two plants for the bowl. WHAT THE?!?!?!? He really wants E to love it! What a cute dad! We'll see how long little Hermie actually lives. Does anybody know the lifespan of a goldfish??

THIRD---Emri is walking!! I'm sorry, this is not an actual walking video...but it's really what Emri did the first time I tried to make her perfom. Well, she did do a little trick, but it wasn't walking! Watch and see (and ignore my snort, ha ha)! Funny girl!

FOURTH---her latest words...."UH-OH" (or "eh-oh" as she says it). It's crazy what they pick up on!

FIFTH--- Melissa, here's the video of the stairs that you asked me to post a while ago! She's pretty speedy now! Most of the time she turns around and starts to back up long before she's even close to the stairs; it cracks me up! Enjoy!

PS....just ignore the white trash stairway that's only half-painted! Don't worry, it's finished now!

OH...i just watched this upload the lighting kinda sucks :(

A DISASTER--PIECE

So, I can honestly say that when it comes to baking I am usually pretty competent....and confident for the most part. I really do love to bake! For those that know me well, you know that my most FAVORITE thing to eat in the whole wide world is BANANA BREAD (or banana cake, or banana cookies)! Well, I've been letting some bananas go brown for a couple weeks now and today was the perfect day to create a masterpiece with them.....but it actually turned into a DISASTER-piece!

I don't really have to explain more than the pictures show, other than I was trying to keep Emri happy in her highchair in the middle of my measurements. Can you say too much baking soda?!?!? That's the only explanation I can come up with!

All of a sudden I could no longer smell the yummy bread, but instead I got a wiff of burning so I opened the oven and a cloud of smoke filled my face....and then I saw this. I really wanted to cry! There it is....my edible gold....dripping all over the place. And now I have a lovely mess to clean up too!

BUMMER!

E's 12 month stats

12 MONTHS!

22 lbs. 2 oz. (66th %)

30.25 inches (82nd %)

Wow, she got skinny and tall(er) in 3 months! ha ha! I guess she's getting rid of that cute baby chub...although there's still some to squish on those thighs and I love it!

She's still all smiles here...not knowing what's next.

This appointment was by far theworst up to this point...not only did she get 4 shots, and the toe prick to check the hemoglobin and for lead poisoning (which she actually didn't mind), but now she's old enough to look at me (while I try to console her) and wonder why I'm letting a stranger hurt her. Poor thing...2 of the shots were given in her arms, and personally, I think those hurt the most. She was not happy about that.

After the trauma. :( She laid so still while I dressed her, clinging to her lovie bear for comfort. I felt so bad! She totally has bruises on her arms and a big knot in her thigh from the shots.

Can you count all 5 bandaids?

On a happier note...Momma Max showed Emri how to put blush on while she visited! Now whenever I'm doing my makeup, Emri wants a brush.....to put blush on her cheeks, forehead, hair, chin, neck, and clothes! Silly!

And....this seems to be a common occurence when dad feeds Emri! ha ha! Huge mess and no bib...but hey, they get the job done!

We don't cry over spilled milk......We suck it up with a straw!!!

At 12 months Emri:

• makes duck, bear, snake, and horse noises. We've been pushing more, but she seems to be stuck on these 4 for now!
• likes to give "5"
• loves to raise her arms ("so big") when you ask how big she is
• shows where her tongue is by sticking it out, and her eyes by squinting.
• loves to dance
• knows how to "kick kick kick" and "splash splash" from swimming lessons
• got to go all the way under water at swimming a few times and always came up looking surprised!
• mimicks us when we sneeze with "ahhhhh-teh!"
• goes up and down our staircase like a champ! She knows she has to turn around at the top of the stairs to go down...sometimes she anticipates the turn and does it 5 feet away from the actual staircase and starts to back up down the hallway!
• takes about 3-4 steps and then figures she can get there a lot faster crawling!
• has 3 teeth. #F cut a couple weeks ago.
• Sleeping has been hit and miss this month, with being sick and getting a new tooth. I sure hope we can get back into her routine soon!
• waves bye-bye
• if we ask to smell her breath she opens her mouth and puts it right over our nose! ha!
• drinks whole milk (a sad transition, but at the same time very welcomed by mom)!
• LOVES to get into anything and everything and has to be watched constantly!
• Won't sit still...so much to do, so little time!