sibling love

These two just love each other so much. I know there will be days they don't get along, but for now I will cherish their sweet relationship!

 

Watching cartoons on the computer this morning.

 

A little coloring at the table this afternoon. 

 

Bryce said he wanted to be big like us so he could hold Emmy.  We told him he didn't have to be big to hold her so we asked him if he wanted to give Emmy her bottle before bed tonight.  He loved it!

this week from my iphone

Bryce got his first report card from preschool this week.  He is doing great academically, socially, and emotionally.  He got great marks in all areas, but needs help on independent tasks such as zippers, snaps, and buttons.  Guess I need to let him be a little more independent in those areas.  Way to go Bryce!!

 

Tuesday  night, while sporting his new Blue's Clues shirt, we finished Bryce's Valentine's for his friends and classmates.  We got these fun robot and monkey Valentine's from Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago after seeing them on a blog.

 

Bryce had swimming lessons on Wednesday and he was so excited to be promoted to level 4.  He came home and practiced everything in the bathtub so he'd be ready for next week.  Occasionally they give out ribbons for meeting certain goals, but not this week, so he settled for a lollipop. 

 

Wednesday was Emmy's birthday.  She needed a lollipop from swimming too!

 

 

Thursday after school, we headed to a birthday party for one of Bryce's classmates.  They  had fun eating pizza and playing games.  The other little girl in his class had no interest in sitting with them for the picture.  Oh well.

 

12 months

Emmy girl is a year old!

Stats
Height: 27 3/4 inches (10th-25th percentile)
Weight: 17lbs 10oz (5th percentile)

 What are you up to these days?

 

You have such a sweet personality and your smile is precious (you smile all the time, except for monthly pictures).

You say ma ma, da da, na na, ba ba (bye bye), and you attempt to say baby, balloon (boon), that (dat or sometimes da da) and book.  You can make animal sounds for cow, elephant, dog, and sheep.  

You have two bottom teeth and one top tooth, but three more are coming in on the top.  

You love to eat most anything we give you.  The doctor said no foods are off limit and we can even try peanut butter and shell fish.  We're getting ready to start weaning you from formula and bottles and move onto real milk.  

You still aren't interested in walking or standing for that matter.  If I can get you steady on your feet, you will stand for a few seconds (you have even taken 4 steps), but you would rather crawl.  You pull up on everything to stand, but you did stand up totally unassisted in the middle of the living room once.

You sleep about 12 hours a night.  You take a morning nap, but it's getting shorter and shorter.  I'm hoping once you drop your morning nap you will sleep more consistently in the afternoon.  You nap anywhere from 45 min to 2 hours.

We're still not really sure of your eye color.  They are either hazel or brown.

You wear a size 3 diaper, 12 month clothes and size 4 shoes.

You definitely have girly instincts and it's so cute.  You love necklaces and put them on whenever you have the chance and you are so sweet when you  love on your babies.

 

You and Bryce have a wonderful relationship and we love to watch you play together.  I hope you will always get along so well.

Maybe you'll grow some hair in your next 12 months, ha!  And maybe even look at the camera (and smile) for pictures!  I can't wait to see what the next year brings, but I DON'T want to rush it.

Emmy's special day

I just love birthdays.  It's really important to me to make birthdays special for my family.  Even though Emmy didn't fully understand that today was her birthday, I think we still did a good job making it a great day for her.  Bryce couldn't wait to give Emmy her present from him.  He really wanted her to have a stroller to push her babies around.  So sweet!

Taking care of her baby!  

We got her some food to go with her kitchen she got for Christmas.  She's glad to have something new to chew on, ha!

We met Jason for lunch so he could see the birthday girl since he leaves for work before she gets up.  Tonight we went to my parents' house for dinner and presents.  Emmy wasn't so sure about her cake at her party so we tried again tonight.  Bryce had fun helping me make a cake and cupcakes.    

She definitely knew what to do this time.

I guess I should be glad she hasn't grown any hair on the top of her head in the last year!

She was so proud of herself.  Her second bath of the day followed this.

Bryce looked forward to dinner and presents all day.  He had lots of fun with her new toys.  The shopping cart is too cute.  It's like the car carts at Kroger.  

Emmy enjoyed the box, ha!

Happy Birthday, Emmy

From this.....

...to this!

 Happy Birthday sweet girl. 

party food

****When I view my blog, it looks like the ends of my sentences are getting cut off.  I'm not sure if it's just my computer or what.  I'm looking into it.**** Update -  It seems to be better in internet explorer than safari.****

Everyone raved about the food at Emmy's party so I thought I would share some of the recipes with you.  Other than my chicken salad, I borrowed some wonderful recipes from some other great cooks!  Since we were having brunch, I tried to have a good variety of breakfast and lunch foods.  On the menu was: bacon and egg cups, fruit, monkey bread, donut holes, brie, chicken salad and  mini croissants and green bean bundles.  

 Bacon and Egg Cups

Source: recipebyphoto.com via Grace on Pinterest

I wanted something different than a breakfast casserole that would be more finger food friendly.  I found these yummy bacon and egg cups on pinterest and thought they would be perfect. I used a mini muffin tin, but you can make them in a regular size muffin tin if you want more per serving.  Simply wrap a slice a bacon around the cup (you may have to cut some off), pour in whipped eggs (seasoned how you like.....cheese if you want), then bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  I would suggest spraying your pan first.  I'm still trying to get egg out of my muffin tins.

Monkey Bread

I have only made monkey bread once before, but it was so good!  I just used the recipe from the Pillsbury website and altered it to my liking. 

You will  need:

2 cans Pillsbury Grands Homestyle buttermilk biscuits

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

bundt cake pan

You simply cut the biscuits into fourths then shake them in a ziploc bag with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Place them in the cake pan.  Then melt butter and stir in the brown sugar and pour over top of the biscuits.  Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes and let sit in pan for 10 minutes before removing.    

Brie

I have a friend who makes the best brie.  She gave me her recipe and I tried my best.  The ingredients are the same, but I'm not sure about my technique.

You will need:

1 round of brie

1 box puff pastry (2 sheets)

raspberry preserves

brown sugar

slivered almonds

Unwrap the brie (I left the outer layer of the cheese on), put the preserves, brown sugar, and almonds on top, then wrap in puff pastry.  Then I repeated the steps again....put the preserves, brown sugar and almonds on the top and wrap it with the second piece of puff pastry.  You are supposed to cut a few shapes out of the puff pastry and place on the top, but ours fell off, oops!  I cooked mine at 350 for about 30 minutes (just don't let the pastry get too brown).

Chicken Salad

I simply boil the chicken breasts, shred them, then chop the chicken.  I use mayonnaise, salt, pepper, celery seed, and chopped celery.  I have no measurements for any of it.  I just taste it as I go.  We served the chicken salad on mini croissants from Kroger.

Green Bean Bundles

I got this yummy recipe from Kelly's Korner.  I thought this was the perfect way to include a vegetable, but not have a veggie tray.  

You will need: 

2-3 cans whole green beans 

bacon slices (I cut them in half)

1 stick of butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp garlic salt

These were super easy.  You just wrap the bacon around a bundle of green beans (5-6).  Place them in a baking dish.  Melt a stick of butter then mix in brown sugar and garlic salt.  Pour over the bundles and cook at 350 for 30 minutes then put under the broiler for 5 minutes.   

And mimosas were the perfect touch for this yummy brunch...even if it was a party for a one year old!

Emmy's birthday party

Though she won't be one until Wednesday, we celebrated Emmy's first birthday yesterday.  It was a wonderful party with family, friends, and great food (I'll save the food for another post).

  

Emmy was a little overwhelmed by all the people at first.  She was so cute holding onto her doll.

We were so glad that most of our family and friends could make it to the party. I tried to get a picture of Emmy with all of the family (even if she never looked at the camera), somehow I missed Nana and Pap.

Jason's grandparents

Jason's Grandma and Vickie

My Nanny

 Nina and Pop

  MeMa and PaPa

Mama Pat

Getting a picture of Emmy with her friends was quite the task.  Emmy sat so still and was ready for the picture!

By the time we got all the kids in one spot and somewhat happy, this is the best I could get, ha!

Emmy had fun opening presents and Bryce and their friends were lots of help!

Singing happy birthday!

Emmy tasted the cake, but she wasn't so sure about it.  She sure did have fun feeding it to Bryce though.  She didn't need much cleaning after the cake!  

Thank you SO much to everyone who came out to celebrate this special day with us!  

under the weather

My sweet girl wasn't feeling any better today.  I hate that she is sick, but I sure did love the extra snuggles and the chance to hold her while she slept! 

She was very content just relaxing in my lap and watching tv.  Love her hands!

I thought a lollipop would help, but she wasn't really interested in it.  She normally eats it up.

 A little birthday mail later in the day helped!

I'm slowly working on a few details for her party this weekend.  I pulled out our Christmas card holder to display Emmy's monthly pictures (birth - 11 months).  

We're excited about her party on Saturday and won't let a little cold slow us down.