snacks, stacks and puppies, OH MY!

Can you say SUGAR RUSH?!?!? The secretaries at the dental school clinic gave Brett a blow pop for his birthday (how generous)! It's been sitting around the kitchen...so I unwrapped it and Emri went to town! That face just cracks me up!

She was soooo happy! Don't worry...she didn't eat the whole thing (much to her dismay) and I brushed her teeth after! haha!

Emri is really into stacking things lately (ie baby food as pictured, and her blocks that she got for her birthday). Hmmmm, maybe glass jars aren't the safest option for stackables?! Get off my back, I'm a first timer mom! ha!

So...is there some kind of a time frame to be done with baby food? She's so mellow in the mornings that she would rather me just spoon feed her than have to pick something up from her tray and put it in her mouth (heaven forbid)! So she eats baby food fruit and baby cereal for breakfast.

Today we took our car to get the oil changed. Conveniently, there is a pet shop next door to Midas, so we waited there! It was E's first time to the pet store and she LOVED IT! As soon as she saw the puppies she was oohhing and ahhhing and squealing! The employees thought she was so adorable and started bringing puppies out for her to touch and before I knew it they were locking us into one of the corrals and telling us how great certain dog breeds are with kids....and how we needed to take one home! I didn't tell them about our pet fish (and how I struggled to even bring that home).

The little fluff ball in the picture above is a Pekingese pup. Very Cute! Emri was surprisingly gentle with her! Emri also got a kick out of this English Bull Dog (Brett really wants one of these). They were jumping simultaneously at each other through the glass! Silly!

No announcements though....no new additions to the family....we left empty handed! Don't worry, Herman the fish is still alive and well and is doing a great job of fulfilling our pet needs!

14 Months and Feelin' Great!

The past couple day's Emri has been feeling back to her silly, fun self! THANK GOODNESS! Uncle Bridger was in town for business. Luckily he got to hang out one night with us! Emri loves to walk through our backyard to feed the ducks and geese! She stands at the back door and quacks till I take her out!

And she is very insistent on the WALKING part! Can she really be this big already?!

14 MONTHS: This is her belly!

There's her tongue! (Yes, she's obviously feeling fine now)! It's fun to quiz her on her body parts. It amazes me what she remembers!

Emri usually gets tired of her toys sometime during the process of me cooking dinner and ends up trying to climb my legs! So, I pulled out a can of paint and made a really big deal out of her new special "seat" while mom cooks!! She actually fell for it....as long as I was constantly feeding her "tee" (treats) or "naa" (snacks). What a character! We'll see how long she likes her special seat! ha! Oh, and yes...that is a slight shiner on her right eye...she fell into the full length mirror, then the next day at the park fell on the wood chips and got a scratch on pretty much the same spot.

Here's a short clip of my favorite word of hers! She CANNOT .... CANNOT say it without growling! And I cannot hear it without laughing! Maybe growling all the time is what made her throat sore?? Or did she get sick from her new love/hobby of LICKING the soles of any shoe she can get her hands on! What?? Who's kid is she? Gross!

Just for journaling purposes...at 14 months Emri:

• is trying to copy so many words we say...in her own little language of course!
• signs "Please"
• is getting pretty consistent with stabbing her food with a fork and feeding it to herself
• usually still takes 2 naps and sleeps anywhere from 12-13 hours at night (when she's not sick of course...then it's 2-3 hour intervals...eghhh.)
• is walking really well and starting to lose the "frankenstein" stance to keep balance while doing so
• favorite foods are PB sandwiches, "craah-kaaahhs" (graham, ritz, animal, goldfish), pears, grapes, bananas, strawberries, mac n' cheese, turkey lunchmeat, cheese, yogurt, broccoli, corn, peas, and green beans.
• loves to give kisses and squeezes
• No longer uses a bottle (not by her choice, but moms)!! I felt bad because she got sick on the 3rd night without it...I really wanted to give it back to her for comfort, but decided against it. Am I mean?? She didn't seem to really miss it, but she definitely doesn't drink as much before bed now.
• loves to go on walks and play at the playground
• has lots of bumps and bruises from being so independent....and somtimes clumsy!
• loves babies...especially Bexley! She gets SO excited and has to be right next to her whenever she's around!
• is still trying to figure out if she wants to be Right or Left handed
• likes to pull her books out and "read"....i love handing her a book and asking her to read it to me....she'll jabber on and on while she nods her head!
• has added monkey and cow to her animal sounds
• when asked, points to her eyes, ears, teeth, tongue, arms, legs, hair, fingers, piggies (toes), cheeks, and chin.

11 pm

Sadly, our 11 PM's have looked like this everynight since Wednesday....sitting out on the porch in the cool air trying to help Emri breathe a little easier....or shutting ourselves into the bathroom to create a "homemade sauna."

The nasty croup pulled a sneak attack on her during her afternoon nap Wednesday....totally out of nowhere! Nights are when it hits the worst....it feels like we have a newborn again.

Emri goes back and forth between Brett and I as who she wants to hold her or rock her to sleep (the only up-side of her not feeling well is being so cuddly)....I sometimes feel bad that it's not always me she chooses, but smile at the same time that she loves her daddy so much. He's actually been rocking her for the past hour and a half because she's coughing so much she won't nap.

Please nasty, sickie bug go away so my sweet, smiley girl can be herself again.

And so we're not such zombies around here anymore :(

Brett's Birthday Weekend

Brett had to be in clinic all day on his bday...so we waited to celebrate when he got home and then throughout the weekend!

When Emri got up from her afternoon nap we had some quality family cuddle time...

Then, Brett opened his presents with E's help of course! Friday night we went out for a steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse with the Nydeggers and Hagbergs (I was so busy stuffing my face I forgot to take a picture) YUMMY!

We like to do breakfast in bed for birthdays, but Brett didn't really think he'd enjoy B in B on Friday at 5:30am before he got up for school, so we did it Saturday...which actually ended up being "breakfast in the living room." Emri didn't get up till almost 8, so we all got to sleep in a little!

Saturday night we celebrated with a BBQ at our place....Lucky Birthday Boy got to do the grilling! I love that it is warming up enough for BBQing. MMMMM!!

Bretty and Me

Tate, Boston & Isaac

Heather and Brandon

Emri, Kara and Bexley (I can't believe how grown up E looks next to Bex)!

Amanda, E, Samantha

Making a wish!

And it's not an Ohio BBQ without a game (or 20) of cornhole! Landon & Brandon

Dallin & Brett

Brett requested that he end his bday celebrations this year with a guys night....and a Pay Per View UFC party!

What a fun weekend!

HAPPY 28th!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRETT!!

THANKS FOR BEING THE SWEETEST, BEST DADDY AND HUBBY IN THE WHOLE WORLD!

LOVE, J & E

A Stinging Bedhead Success

Yesterday we were, playing in and around our yard....the sun was shining and it was 80 degrees out! PERFECT! Emri wanted to go outside and explore. She chose to accessorize for the occasion with some rather cute sunglasses! She is so intrigued by the simplest things and since it is all new to her, everything seems to go straight to her mouth... including (but not limited to): old crackly leftover Autumn leaves,

blades of grass,

twigs,

...and little pebbles.

She also likes to think she's the queen of the sidewalk....so we let her be! After roaming the yard and sidewalk and going to the pond to watch the geese and ducks we were headed back inside. Emri lost her balance on the grass and caught herself with her hands....

well, she must have landed right on a BEE! :( She was screaming instantly with HUGE tears...and although I couldn't see a bee or anything, her thumb swelled up immediately. She didn't want me to touch or look at it, so I ran it under cold water to try to help the pain which seemed to soothe her a little. I panicked a bit...did not have any Benadryl on hand. We headed to a friend's to use some, and on the way there she calmed down so I just went to the pharmacy instead so I could buy some and keep on hand. I felt SO bad for her! I never found an actual sting site...so I really have no clue what the heck it was.

After some benadryl, tylenol, a snack and some juice she was back to her normal, silly self .... and then konked out for a 2 hour nap!

Moral of the story: new moms, keep some childrens Benadryl on hand! You don't think about it till you really need it!

Not much to this pic....just some awesome bedhead and a sweet, calm little morning face to go with it! LOVE HER!

And.....this picture doesn't really need too much explaining! Yep, that's chunks from the marinara sauce on her raviolis at dinner (her hair was NOT crunchy today)! She likes to "do her hair" with her food! AGGGHHHHHHHH!

And look at that mischievious face...."who me?!?!?" Believe it or not, I call this dinner a success!

WHY???

Because she did not get ONE DROP of food on the floor tonight!

A. MA. ZING!

And Now...Off to the bathtub...but not without teasing dad on the way!

Easter Sunday

Easter was such a great day! Emri loved her basket full goodies and toys and the packages she recieved from family in Utah! She gets so excited over the little things! She sure makes everything a little sweeter and more enjoyable!

Our little Bunn-"E"

We were able to listen to the General Conference Sessions which are always so inspiring. We had some friends over for a yummy lunch (and I didn't take ONE picture) and then we had a mini egg "hunt" for Emri. I scattered them...and she picked them all up! Well, kind of...she was really freaked out by walking on the grass barefoot so she'd bend and reach as far as she could, then I would pick her up and move locations so she could bend over and reach a few more eggs!

She loves carrying purses, bags and buckets around, so naturally, she loved her pink basket!

Silly girl...once all the eggs were collected she sat down, but was still not a fan of the grass touching her! She sat with her leg up like this at least 5 minutes!!

Like I said, she always keeps us laughing!

13 Months

She is such a ham these days....and knows just how to make us laugh! This is pretty much what she does now when I have the camera in her face and say "Emri, look at momma!" I love it!

• Emri now has 5 teeth and the 6th is days away from cutting through. Luckily, her night time sleep hasn't been affected much by this round of teething, so I'm pretty happy about that!
• Her biggest thing over the last month is using her signs for "more" and "all done" when she eats. We haven't been really stickler to making her do it, but all of a sudden she caught on!
• Also, I think we have officially entered the "toddler" phase as E now toddles throughout the whole house! She still prefers crawling at times, but is liking walking more and more. It was interesting to see her realize that she doesn't have to clumsily lunge forward to get somewhere! Now she is much more aware of where she wants to go, and cautiously takes steady little steps to get there!

Just a few random pictures of the last couple weeks around here:

Gorgeous weather!!!! 70 degrees yesterday, 75 today (tomorrow 82!).... so we went to the zoo with our friends!

Kate & Averi---Kara & Abi---Me & Emri

(can you tell they're all the same age?!)

I'm torn about what to do with Emri's hair! Brett points out to me everyday that she has a mullett! I realize that. We have a few options to make it less noticeable...ie. pigtails, flip out with a velcro roller or the crunchy look shown below (which I will proudly admit that Brett did all by himself!! Such a cute daddy!) Most days if we are just home though it's just flat to her head!

I think it's darling crunchy, but I won't take the time to add product to my baby's hair daily!

Her face cracks me up....I'm pretty sure she thinks its not a good bite unless her fist is completely full....and then she'll shove her hand into her mouth clear to the last knuckle before she opens it up to deposit the food and slide it back out!

I have a couple videos that are struggling to load, so I'll try again later. Check back!