Outdoor Summer Fun

I don't know about where you are, but in North Texas it is already super hot. We are talking into the hundreds everyday and it is not even July! (I sure picked a great summer to be pregnant...)

With the heat and pregnancy, there is a pretty big limit on outdoor activities that we can participate in. Swimming and water play are at the top of the list, but it does not work out for us to do that everyday. Another way that our family gets outside is in the evening after dinner. We normally sit outside in our shady backyard and have popsicles, do bubbles or watch the sprinklers run. Eventhough it is normally around 7pm at this point, it is still super hot and we can only stay outside for 20 minutes or so.

Last night Emerson wanted to play with her pink sidewalk chalk during our after dinner time outside. Steve was telling her different people's names to "write" and she would concentrate on "writing" them in pink chalk. We eventually went through a list of all our family and friends and had moved on to animals and cartoon characters before we decided it was time to go inside.

Concentrating on her "penmanship"

"What name should I write next?"

More concentrating

"Look daddy, I wrote your name!"

Time for a water break before we go inside

Little girls are just too fun

Emerson has gotten into the dress-up phase. It is too precious to see the things that she comes up with. I love every minute of it!

Potty Training

Potty training is so rewarding and yet such a beating at the same time!

Emerson has been ready for potty training for months. We (I) have just been putting it off for various reasons, mainly the timing just hasn't been right for our family. For the past 4-6 months, Emerson has been going on the potty occasionally and interested in big girl panties.

We are finally home for the summer and it has become a top priority. Last Tuesday, when Emerson woke up in the morning I told her that "today you get to wear big girl panties and do all your poo poos and pee pees on the potty". She was elated!

I am so thankful that we waited until Emerson was ready and did not rush this earlier. It has been so easy. I prescribed to a very casual method of potty training. Every time she goes pee pee on the potty, she gets 2 skittles. If she goes poo poo on the potty she gets to pick a prize out of a bucket. This method has worked well for us to this point.

In the past 7 days, Emerson has only had 2 minor accidents. Although we have not messed with naptime or bedtime yet (she is still in diapers for sleeping) she has been waking up dry after nap and in the morning. It is just amazing how well she has taken to this whole thing!

Because not everything can be drama-free, we have had a minor-issue that has popped up during this training. Emerson claims she has to poo poo for hours before actually going on the potty. She will literally grab her hiney and walk up to us and say "I almost go poo poo". We will urgently run to the bathroom and she will either sit on the toilet for 2 seconds and then get off or she won't even get on the potty at all. It is so frustrating!

I know she is not trying to be annoying on purpose. I don't think she is constipated either because she ends up going everyday and with little effort. I think she might be misreading her body's signals or maybe there is a little fear involved. Whatever it is, I hope that it will get better everyday until she has the confidence to read her body and it won't be so much back and forth (This morning we did the back and forth thing about 20-25 times and she finally went after her nap at 4:30 pm). If you have any tips or stories here, I would love to hear them!

And because she looks so cute in her panties:)

Doggy Love

Emerson has fallen in love with our dog, Toby. She has always liked him, but recently it has become a true-love situation. She talks about him, pets him sweetly, plays with him and just genuinely enjoys him.

Here are some pictures of her playing with Toby yesterday afternoon. She was finding sticks in the backyard and "feeding" them to him. Luckily he does not mind playing along with her games...yet.

Beach Trip 2010

We just returned from our first real family vacation. We spent 4 days at the beach with friends. It was chaotic and fun. Some people came and went but at the highest, there was 16 adults and 6 kids under 3 there. All I can say is that at least the adults outnumbered the kiddos.

This trip was Emerson's first time to the beach. She loved the sand immediately. The ocean was not a hit until the last 20 minutes of our last day there. Typical. Oh well, at least she eventually warmed up to it. Hopefully next time we are there it will be love at first sight.

The best part of the trip was just hanging out with friends and watching the kids play together. Two of the kiddos there are Emerson's best friends in the whole world- Jaylee and Hayden. Emy thought it was pretty special to spend all day, every day with them.

We drove home Sunday and all of us were super exhausted and slept great in our own beds. We are just about caught up on sleep and back into our normal routine.

Here are some pics from the trip. (They are in reverse order- sorry, I don't have the energy to re-arrange them)

Chasing Jaylee on the beach

Taking a lounge break

Digging with Jaylee and Hayden

FINALLY, enjoying the water on Saturday night.

Playing in the golf cart

Enjoying smores from the beach cookout

Cooking marshmellows over hot coals

Taking a break in a shaded tent with daddy

Toby thoroughly enjoyed himself and had 2 baths a day (literally)

Spending the late afternoons in the pools at the beack house. Her face does not show it but she really did enjoy pool time.

Sidewalk chalk artists

PS- I cannot believe that we did not take a family picture at the beach! I am using pregnancy as my excuse for avoiding the camera:)

Swinging

Sorry for the hiatus. I have been on two back-to-back vacations and am really behind. I hope to post pictures of them both soon.

In the meantime, for your Emerson-fix, here is a cute picture of her swinging last week.