Emily Milestones - Tickle Tickle Tickle

One year and two days later - Emily never ceases to amaze us. Emily has been couch/furniture surfing and walking while pushing toys for over a month. Suddenly, she is standing up without holding on to anything. She just stands there maintaining balance and then sits down. You can see Emily thinking it out and realizing what she is capable of. Her goal: run around with her brothers. Car noises: As you can imagine, Emily is surrounded by boy toys. She loves cars and yesterday was making engine noises as she was playing with Garrett's cars. Too funny!

Last night I was playing with Emily on the family room floor and she crawled behind me. I was laying on my belly and all of a sudden I feel her pulling up the bottom of my shirt. Her little hand reaches out to my back and I feel her little nails on my skin. Then, I hear her say "Tickle, Tickle, Tickle" followed by her laughing. I laughed so hard because she is now tickling me with the proudest grin on her face.

Aruba 3

Another adventure we decided to try this year was a privately owned island that had scuba and a water park. The kids were so excited about the water park and we were in there the entire time.
Here the family is watching Grandpa trying to attract fish with some food in the ocean.
The men at the helm of the boat on the way home.
Off to dinner again and happy as always.
Emily was a riot eating spaghetti for the first time. She would pull a strand off the plate, try to pull it apart and then eat it. We had spaghetti everywhere.
Garrett was psyched for his sundae.
The last morning in Aruba we tried to make the most of everything. We ate breakfast in record time and it was right into the pool.

Relaxing by the side of the pool after swimming.

Grandpa told me I didn't take enough pictures of him so he was happy to pose for one last shot.

I think Connor looks all grown up in the picture below. The most amazing thing happened while we were in Aruba. Connor can now swim without any assistance. He is a regular fish - Congratulations honey - we are very proud of you.

We made it home without any problems and can look back on this year's vacation knowing we had a blast!!! See you next year Aruba!

Emily's Tropical First Birthday

It's July 24th and you know what that means: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!!

We had a great day relaxing by the pool and just doing things on Emily's schedule. As you can see, she was loving the attention. When we asked Emily how old she was, she would raise up her pointer finger close to her face. So Cute!

The girls are ready for dinner to celebrate.

The resort made a birthday cake especially for Emily so we were all very excited for the big dinner.

The cake was beautiful and absolutely perfect.

We let Emily sit on the table to blow out the candle and then she proceeded to poke at the cake and lick her fingers.

She was very happy with her plate of cake and she ate every last bite. I am happy this cake (partially ice cream and vanilla cake) was white because it was everywhere.

Still eating.

Look at my messy mouth - I ate it all. Happy Birthday our beautiful, sweet angel. We love you!!!

Aruba 2

On our way back from breakfast, it was time for the bird show. The kids were given 100% attention by the bird trainer and they managed to have so much fun with the birds.

Last year, the boys didn't want the birds touching them. Obviously, it was a completely different story this year.

The boys were so gentle.
Connor's new baby.

Of course, Garrett wanted to get in on that action.

Off to dinner.

We managed to have a family photo- YEAH!!!

We decided to actually try some activities this year. We headed off to a horseback riding facility and we had so much fun. Look at my handsome equestrians.

Grandpa was in the lead, then Daddy rode with Connor and I rode with Garrett. The funny thing is that our horse was a lot like Garrett - he liked to snack. So every ten steps or so he would bend down to eat a plant or some grass. It took a lot of kicking to get my horse moving but we managed to keep up eventually.

The night before Emily's First Birthday we had to take a couple pictures. Look at our happy sweetheart.

To be continued...

Aruba in July

This year we went to Aruba in July and we had the best time. We were all ready for a tropical vacation with lots of pool time, beach and adventures. Our plane trip was completely uneventful and the kids were perfect. So once we got to the hotel, we were ready for the pool. All dressed and ready to go.
Look at us swimming.
Garrett knows he is looking good.
Connor is so happy to be in the sun and swimming.
Our friend the iguana came to visit and welcome us back to the island.
Emily was ready to get right into the action. If you look at the picture, you will see that she was able to stand on the island of the pool and could hold on to the edge of the pool. She loved to walk holding on back and forth and was so happy.
The family is ready for dinner - we definitely worked up an appetite.
On our way - look at all those smiling faces.
It is tradition that the kids hang from these bars. Look at our little princess grabbed right on and she could honestly hold herself up - she is one tough cookie.

The boys got right in on the actions - Connor held up there for about a minute.

Powerhouse Garrett was right up there as well.

Come on - everybody get up and dance. Who needs music - all we need is a stage and our imagination?

After dinner and the hunt for a cooler, we got a little silly posing for pictures - this is Garrett's mean face and Connor's silly face.

Turning 1 Brings Presents, Presents and More Presents

Since everyone knew we were going to be spending Emily's First birthday in Aruba, we couldn't believe all the presents that kept showing up on our doorstep. My favorite part is that Emily took great pride in climbing on all the boxes and making them her own little seat. Thank goodness they weren't breakable.
It didn't take long for everyone to get into the action of opening presents.

Emily was having a blast. She even tried on her new headband.

Now that Emily is one, the house is starting to transform with girls toys scattered around. Her new baby and stroller are her favorite. She can hold on and walk all around the house.

Kissing and taking care of the baby.

Of course, the baby needs some lipstick.

Look at how happy I am...I love my new toys. Thank you to everyone for sending such fantastic presents - we are very lucky to have such great friends and family.