Day 31: Reading with Daddy (1.31)

Emerson loves reading books. One of my favorite times of the day is when Daddy sit down with the boy and reads a book to him. I think that it is just so sweet. I love these two so much!

Day 30: Books (1.30)

I love little kid books. And I especially LOVE finding them for a deal. I haven't spent more then $2 on any book that we have for Emerson (however some were given as a Christmas present from Gandma and Grandpa Bush). Emerson's favorite books are the The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Barn Yard Dance. He really like when we do the Counting Kisses book if he is in the right mood.

Day 29: Locked Out (1.29)

We sometimes forget to shut our gate blocking Emerson from the stairs. When we forget Emerson always remembers. He loves to go to the other side and slam the gate shut. Then he shakes on the gate. Whenever we hear that noise we know that he locked himself on the wrong side again.

Day 28: Monkey Bookbag (1.28)

For Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Bush, Emerson got this monkey bookbag suitcase. It is so cute. We have Emerson books in it. He can't open it yet, but he loves to go and play with the bag until we come over and open it for him.

Day 27: First Cars (1.27)

Emerson loves these cars that he got for Christmas. He loves to push them around and make a "vroom" noise. Just one day he started doing that...we never taught him that...TO CUTE!

Day 26: Walking Away (1.26)

Today Emerson was walking down our hall and I was floored with how much he has grown. He is a great walker and he is getting so big. I love my little man that is all to soon going to be a big man.

Day 25: Costa Vida Salad (1.25)

After the closing of my favorite restuarnt, Costa Vida, I have been wanting one every day. So today we made up the recipes that we were goven from a friend. And my craving has been satisfied. I LOVE Costa Vida salads (I have never been to Cafe Rio, so I don't have a comparison). These were pretty close to the same, so I will be happy with them until I can get to Utah and have a athentic Costa Vida Shredded Chicken Salad with Tomatillo Ranch again.

Day 24: Starbucks (1.24)

I love Starbucks. Not for the coffee...which I once was given from here on accident while I was pregnant and I can honestly say that is the WORST taste I have ever put into my mouth..., but for the peppermint hot chocolate. It is just perfect on a cold winter's day. If I had the money, I would go there every morning to have a delicious hot chocolate to warm me up, but for now I will just wait until Jason gets gift cards from work, so we can have it free.

Day 23: Two Teeth

I love that you can see Emerson's little baby teeth in this picture. I hardly ever get one of his teeth, so I am happy that I got one with them and his sweet little face. I love this little guy!

Day 22: Stair Master

Emerson loves to climb stairs, but he usually just goes up and never trys to come down. We practice coming down a lot with him, but he never wants to go down on his own.

Today he climbed up a few stairs and them looked back at me and smiled. Then he stood up and clapped...which if you look closely is what he is going in this picture. Then he went back on his knees and came back down on his own the right way! I am so proud of him!

Day 21: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Good thing I am feeling better today because I made some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread today for Enrichment tonight. I love this bread, but I can really only make it when it is for something because it make 4 loaves. Jason and I can't eat that much, so we have to share it.

I also bought these bread pans today. I love Pyrex.

Day 20: Birthday Games

For Jason's birthday, he got a gift cerfificate to get some games from my parents. So, we finally got around to ordering them this weekend, and they got here today. For date nights sometimes we like to eat cheaper and be able to go pick out a new game to play. So, since we were already paying for shipping, we decided to buy some date night games along with his birthday games at a discounted price instead buying them at our full priced local games store.

The birthday games from my parents are Dominion, The Princes of Florence, Caylus, and one of the Arkham Horror Expansions. The date night games are Ticket to Ride: Dice Expansion, a Arham Horror Expansion, two Munchkin expansions and Thurn and Taxis. I can't wait to play them all.

We played Dominion tonight...it was really fun!

Day 19: Un-stacked

Emerson's favorite toy is this Fisher Price stacking rings toy. However, it is the unstacking that he enjoys so much. You never find this toy stacked for more than 10 seconds is Emerson is has anything to do with it. It has become a game with us to try to get it stacked up all the way before he destroys it again.

Day 18: So Many Outfits

We are still sickies here today.

This is Emerson's 4th outfit that he has worn today...and it is only 3 in the afternoon. It is his 9th outfit in the past 2 and a half day. I hope that he starts getting better soon. I think that my washer is getting as tired of cleaning up poopy outfits as Jason and I are of changing them.

Day 17: Pacifier

Emerson 's new thing is that he likes to take his pacifier out and put it into my mouth. He laughs and pats my cheeks and then he pulls it out and puts it into his mouth again. And then he does it again and again.

This is really cute...until you are pretty sure it is the thing that made you sick. Both Emerson and I have been really sick this evening with flu like symptoms. NOT FUN!

Day 16: 11 Months

Today my baby is 11 months old! I can't believe that he is getting to be such a big boy. A year ago he was still sitting in my belly waiting for his grand entrance into the world, and now he is crawling, walking, chattering, and just being a bigger boy every day. I miss my little baby boy, but I LOVE what he is becoming!

Day 15: Off Limits

If some thing in our house is "off limits" to Emerson, it becomes his favorite thing to play with or do. Emerson LOVES destroying Daddy's corner. It is the first place he goes when he is put on the ground in our bedroom. Sometimes, I let him play alone (out of my sight), but I can always pretty much guarentee that he is playing in that corner...unless one of the bathroom doors was left open on accident.

Day 14: Walking

I am still surprised sometimes when I see Emerson walk. I love watching him take step after step. I do not want his "Frankenstein" walk to end; it is just so sweet.

Day 13: Fun Mail

I LOVE getting packages. Even packages that already I know are coming. Today I got this book in the mail. It is full of inspiration of ways to display your photos. Such a FUN book!

Day 12: Baby Food

Though I love that Emerson is eating more and more "adult" foods, I am always happy for the easiness of baby food. I love that Emerson loves to eat it too. He especially LOVES carrots and sweet potatoes.

Day 11: A Big Mess

Today for the first time, we let Emerson feed himself something other than some very clean bread or Gerber stars. We let him eat SPAGHETTI. He loved it, but grabbing it by the handfuls and shoveling it into his mouth. I think that about 90% of each handful ended up between him and the tray. Needless to say a bath occured immediately after this dinner.

Day 10: Milk Beard

You hear of people getting milk mustaches all the time, but how often do you hear about milk beards. I get to see a milk beard quite a few times a day on Emery. I think that it is so cute, but I would love for him to learn how to keep it all in his mouth instead of all over his chin.

Day 9: Outback

In celebration of Emerson gaining 1.5 lbs since his last weigh-in and moving up to the 10th percentile, we went out to Outback for dinner. YUMMY! We ordered for Emerson a meal of his own for the first time: a Grilled Cheese sandwich and broccoli. He also got some of our cheese fries and bread. Lucky guy!

Day 8: Mirror Mirror

I put this mirror out in the hall one day before we left for Chirstmas vacation while I was cleaning the bathroom. Emerson loves looking at himself in it. I can't bring myself to put it away because he likes it so much.

Day 7: Costa Vida

Today I found out that my favorite restaurant, Costa Vida, here in Oregon is closing its doors tomorrow. What stinks even more than its closing is that we just bought $150 worth of gift cards there.

Day 6: All Travel Out

We flew home today from New York. It was a long day and Emerson was restless. He went crazy right when we got home and played with all his toys--so happy he was able to be put down, but soon he was exhausted and crashed on our bed.

Day 5: Final Grandpa Nap

One final Grandpa nap this trip. Tomorrow we leave New York to go back home.

Day 4: Times Square

Today Jason and I went to New York with Emily, Lyle, and Olivia. We left Emerson at home with Grandpa and Grandma. We saw most of New York in a day. We are most definately going to have to go back for a longer period one day.

Day 3: Sledding

All bundled up. Going sledding. I guess it is too cold because we got zero reaction out of Emerson.

Day 2: Family Pictures

Today Natalie took our family pictures. I LOVE this one.

Day 1: Baby, It's Cold Outside

I thought an appropriate way to start off the year was with a picture of Mr. E. I am sure that this year is going to be totally revolved around him. And isn't he such a sweetie in this picture?

Also, we need a "Kissing in the New Year" picture. (Taken on Day 2)