Smelling the roses

On Tuesday the Denver Botanical gardens had a free day!  The place opened at 9, and at 9:30 we got one of the last few parking spots!
We met Jean there and had a great time walking around and then having lunch next to the 'Monet pond'.
Smelling the flowers with Grammy!

This little girl and was intently drawing the lily pads, and Emmery found her work very intriguing- she felt the need to watch up close :)
(The little girl's brother wasn't as into drawing and was running around- girls and boys are inherently so different :))

Eating a yummy lunch of chicken salad sandwiches (with sunflower sprouts which are especially tasty) and really good salads.

The Monet pond- my favorite!

Strawberries and roosters

Em moved up to a size4 in shoes, and with it she has some very cute hand-me-downs. She enjoys un-tying these sparkly cuties.

And she has gotten enough hair at the crown of her head for a barrette!  We got quite a few barrettes from my friend Kelly, who wore them when she was little. Of course Emmery eventually found it and pulled it out with about half of her hair :-p

We went to the Berry Farm with a "Mom's group" and Addison.  They wouldn't let Emmery technically pick berries, but they let her tag along on the hayride out to the strawberry fields.  Luckily Addison shared with Emmery.

In the end we were the only people who ended up without any berries to take home :-)

They also had some animals!

Emmery was enthralled with the rooster.  I think she couldn't believe that they actually made the noise she so often mimics :-)

Here is a video of Em reading

An introduction to the great outdoors

We finally got Emmery out for her first camping trip!  She loved walking around and exploring, playing in the dirt (she was literally covered within 5 minutes of arriving), and playing with her friend Addison. 

We went to Golden Gate Canyon park for one night with our friends- the Schroeder's.  The weather was perfect- a slight drizzle to keep the bugs away and the temp down.

Giving kisses

The little explorer in her rain coat.

Watching Daddy fish

Emmery typically does her own thing, but she loves Addison.  It's cute to see them interacting together.

Emmery thought the tent was awesome.  She couldn't stop laughing when we were inside of it and she loved walking circles around it.

Emmery's war wound- she tripped on a rock :(

We had a great time and are looking forward to doing more camping trips!

I Scream for Ice Cream

A quick (blurry) shot I got of Emmery cracking up this past week :)

With record highs last week and temps near 100deg, Emmery got her first experience of the ice cream truck.  I asked the driver to hold her for a picture.

And after we picked out the Hello Kitty popsicle, I realized all I had was a $20 bill and ~$1.70 in change.  The ice cream truck guy was so nice that he gave Emmery the ice cream (which was $3.50!) for $1.70. 

 First taste- cold but sweet...

What is this thing?

 I like it...

A lot!

Happy girl

And wondering why it melts so quickly

A SAHM?!!!

I am officially a SAHM (stay-at-home mom)!!!
My last day of work felt surreal, and I am not sure that it will actually hit me for a few more weeks. So far, I am loving staying at home.  My favorite time of the day is mornings after she first wakes up- such a little cuddle bug!
Emmery is growing up so fast- I feel like in the last month we went from having a baby to a little girl!
Her first real word was when she was about 11months old- she exclaimed, "Shoe!" while holding her shoe out proudly.  Now she finds her shoes for me to put on. She loves to read (both with us and by herself) and knows lots of animal sounds (her favorite is "Woof, woof! Bow, wow" which she got from reading her 'Biscuit' books).  She is always pointing to the sky and saying, "Tweet, tweet" or "Airplane" She has been saying "Dada" for a long time, but she is finally regularly saying, "Mama" after our first week together. :)  And just this week she ran from one mirror to another exclaiming, "Emmy!".

Here are a few pictures from our first week home together.

Riding outside

One day I looked over and she had grabbed a can of playdough and a little toy that looked sort of like a spoon and was feeding her baby!

Kelly and Tracey came and visited us one day.
Here are baby Owen (2 weeks) and Emilia (5 weeks).  Aren't they just the cutest little couple?

And here are all of the kids together- it was easier to get none of them smiling rather than all of them smiling!  We are looking forward to getting together with them more often.

One of the best parts of staying home is that it means we get to have good dinners together (as opposed to feeding Emmery while we cooked dinner and then eating at 7:30/8pm) and spend more time together  on weekends.

On Saturday we went to the pool.

Emmery doesn't like to get much deeper than this, even if we're holding her. Time for some swim lessons!

And on Sunday we went to the county fair.

Emmery of course tried to ride the goats.

Our new home

Although I told my manager I would be leaving, I did not give my notice until after the sale of our Fort Collins house went through.  This meant we had 3 weeks of me still working after we moved into our new home.
Our parents helped us out tremendously by living with us for those first few weeks and watching Emmery.  Emmery transitioned to the new home and not going to school very easily, and I am sure a lot of it had to do with all of the love and attention she got from her grandparents :)

Emmy with Grandpa Tom

 Emmy with Grandma Debbie

Here is a tour of our new home (before we moved in):

When we first saw the pictures of this house online, we were instantly ready to make an offer- the style and bright feeling of the house is just what we were looking for.

The front of the house- we love the front porch.

There is a little sitting area and dining room when you walk in the front door- here is a view looking towards the front door from the steps going upstairs.

 If you continue walking straight from the front door through the dining room, you enter into the living room.

The living room is open to an eat-in kitchen, which has a large pantry and lots of cabinets. To the left is a sliding glass door out to a very small deck (the house has a walkout basement).

Around the corner in the kitchen is a bathroom, a laundry room with a utility sink, and the door to the garage.

 Upstairs there is a large master bedroom (with a fan meant only for people who live in Hawaii), master bath, and walk-in closet.

Also upstairs are 3 other bedrooms and a bathroom.

The house was vacant for quite some time (an investment company fixed it up a little before selling it) so it was quite dirty, but other than that we are happy to be moving into a house where no big projects are necessary and we have an unfinished basement and garage for storage!

 Here is a quick picture of Jamison and I at a friend's wedding the day after our house in Fort Collins closed- we celebrated both the wedding and the closing (and felt it the whole next day)!