Friday was pretty exciting!

John wrote about it over on his blog.
Emma was very interested in the firetrucks with their lights and ladders, but the firemen in their gear made her a little timid. Oh, it was quite the day!

one of her new favorite toys and tickle time with Daddy

exploring the stroller, I from Elizabeth Smillie on Vimeo.

exploring the stroller, II from Elizabeth Smillie on Vimeo.

We have a larger, heavier duty stroller that we use when we are out with the car (it's made by Chicco and really awesome! you can fold it up with one hand), but sometimes we use an umbrella stroller for walks around the neighborhood (when John isn't home to carry the big one down the stairs).
Emma has started to play with the stroller before I put it away when we get home, and she loves it!

Here's another thing that Emma is loving: tickle time with Daddy!

tickle tickle! from Elizabeth Smillie on Vimeo.

learning about:

water!

water play from Elizabeth Smillie on Vimeo.

little climber

little climber from Elizabeth Smillie on Vimeo.

Emma had just started to crawl up on the bench when I went to get the video camera, and as the video starts you can see her finishing pulling herself up.

pictures from Easter

Our little family spent Easter weekend with the Smillies in Indianapolis.
Easter Sunday was a gorgeous day, perfect for having the windows open as we were cooking, playing and repairing cars. :)
The Stonecypher family (Leah's family) came over for dinner and we all had a wonderful evening together.

2010-04-04 Easter Sunday

wandering out to visit with her daddy as he was working on the car

Easter from Elizabeth Smillie on Vimeo.

after dying her first Easter egg

a few pictures of Emma Grace

2010-04-15

We went out to the courtyard the other morning to take advantage of the combination of lovely weather and Spring blossoms that were blowing in the breeze. It was a sweet time of Emma playing in the grass with her blankie and toddling around. Even though she kept trying to run off to see the ducks that were quacking in the pond! "Tda! Tda!" as she pointed in their direction.

someone learned to climb today ...

... and oh, is she ever proud!

This morning Emma was climbing on her little push car so that she could reach the shelf that we keep our candles on. Then, after her nap, she was climbing on the boxes in her closet as I worked on cleaning it.
That was all fine, though, since she was only climbing on things that were as high as her knee - as far as she could bend it.
But then ........... she decided to try climbing higher this evening. She is officially an adventurous climber now.
Oh boy.

bubbles!

Cincinnati Tea Party

playing quietly

sleepy head

Emma is so sweet and snuggly when she gets up from her naps. Yesterday John made a little nest for her to cuddle in while she finished waking up. She sat there for quite a while, and then was up and running again. :)

as time goes by

our first date - 5/18/2007 (although we had been "dating" long distance for 5 months already)

our second anniversary - 4/12/2010

Yesterday was our second anniversary.

Two years have passed since our wedding ..... two wonderful, exciting, glorious and trying but amazing years.
It's not often that we pause and talk about where we've been, but yesterday we took some time to talk about and remember the past year, the high points and low points and the memories.
Remembering the past puts the present into perspective and reminds us of the faithfulness of our God.
It was so good.

John surprised me by switching his schedule to take yesterday off instead of Wednesday as usual. We had a quiet day together, and then in the evening went out for a bit. Thank you to Vince and Kat for watching Emma for us!

Emma Grace and her "baby"

I looked up a few moments ago and saw Emma in the corner with her baby doll. She was playing so sweetly with it, gently touching the baby's face and eyes as she sucked her thumb.

She noticed I was taking pictures of her, so showed me her picture smile.

Showing me her baby's eyes. Emma can now show you her (or your) eyes, nose and mouth when asked.

the sign for "baby" (fold your arms and rock them back and forth)

yesterday

Yesterday Emma and I went over to Amy's to visit with her and her kids. Amy is a photographer who is starting up her business and she took some pictures of Emma to add to her portfolio.
It was so sweet to watch the little ones play, although we stayed a bit long and Emma was very ready for her nap by the time we left. Thanks for having us over Amy!

last Tuesday:

we went to the park down the street to walk around and enjoy the lovely afternoon.

Emma liked the gazebo. She was "telling" us all about it as she walked in and out, in and out.

the water fountain had a spigot at Emma's level and she was very interested.

Emma has no concept of distance, and apparently she is not afraid to wander off. We are working on getting her to come when we call her, too. It made for an interesting walk!

the squirrels came right up to her, and Emma made the sign for "kitty". It was so funny to watch.