Beach - Take Two!

For the last two years, my sweet friend Cheryl has invited us to the beach. We take a "girls trip", with our other good friend and her two daughters, and head to San Destin for a week of relaxation on the beach!

We left after church on Sunday, and days prior you could ask Emily when we were going to the beach and she would reply: "On Sunday, after church".

On the way to church Sunday morning.

Yeah! Finally here!Sitting with Cheryl

Here she is with her BFF, Ann Elise, and tell someone to "sit, right here" (notice her hand pointing on the bed). As Cheryl said, there was no shortage of bossing available...

Our typical day was: Run(a few days), Eat Breakfast, be on the beach by 8:30am, leave by noon, have lunch, Emily would nap from 1:30 until 4 or 4:30, then we would head to the pool and meet up with everyone, dinner, relax or head to the Baytowne Wharf (the Village).

Of course, there always must be an after-nap snack!

At the Village with Brookins girls and our condo neighbors...

Running!

Seashells Mommy!

Watching "Rachel" with Ann Elise.

The Crew. (The picture quality is awful, for some reason, my flash started acting up during the trip, and some of my nighttime photos are very "grainy")

Breakfast at the Donut Hole..."Should I eat this??"

"oh yes, yes I should!!!"

Ems and Mommy...(Or "mom" as I am now being called)

Going shopping...(With the outlets so close, we had to go once or twice...)

Look at the kite mommy...

Pretty Sky

Emily loves to "smash" sand castles, so it is nice to go at night and take advantage of the Sand Castle Owner's absence...

"Holy Moly, Big Waves" - Every day, sans this one, the beach was so calm, it was like being in a pool. This day though, the waves put on a show, and Emily loved it!

On the phone with Troy, walking him through his first ever payroll run, (long story, I will share it if you ask...)

Wearing Cheryl's shoes

The boys came down Thursday night. On Tuesday night, while we were eating dinner, Emily says "I miss daddy", so she was quite happy to see him Friday morning, when she woke up!

Playing ball with Mrs. Kathy... ("Mrs. Kaffy)

Wow, look at this Sand Castle mom!

Smash It!!Save the Sea Shells...

Dresses

One more thing that filled my time before we left for the beach...

I found this, oh so cute, fabric at Hancock, and could not help but sew her a few dresses, ASAP.

Beach Bound

Ems and I are headed to the beach for the week, and leaving poor Hyde and Daddy here to fend for themselves.

When we return I am sure I will have a plethora of pictures to pose...and hopefully a book...or two read!

Bad Blogger

I know, I have been bad. I suddenly realized that my time with my sweet girl is slipping away so quickly, and I had other projects and work to do while she napped, so I have not taken the time to post any new pictures.

But here is what we have been up to: Saturday night Cheryl offered to keep Ems while Troy and I went on, a much needed, date. We went to the dollar theatre, and they went to the zoo. Cheryl is like a adoptive Aunt to Emily. She loves Cheryl and I think the feeling is mutual. Here is a note from Cheryl about the whole evening, I almost cried: "Hi there! Just wanted to say thanks for letting me keep Ems yesterday. I had a great time. She is such a sweet, obedient, fun child. I was so impressed with how she did whatever I asked, and was never disobedient. Several hours together and no crying at all!! She used great manners, saying thank you to me for putting her shoes on. Hopping, skipping, singing through the zoo. Wanting"more peacock." Giving me big smiles when I would look at her. Reaching up to take my hand when she didn't have to. Running around the house making airplane noises. Telling Gracie "stop it Bobers." Telling Nate "stop it Nate." What a precious little girl. Made me fall in love with her all over again!! Here is a picture Cheryl snapped from the zoo...

Thanks Cheryl for keeping her. We did not worry one second, and we love you!

There there's; Playing with Bows...

Making Bows...

Giving Hyde Sticks...Eating...Watching the rain...And watching our flowers grow...All in all we are having a very fun summer. Hope you are too!! Potty training is going so well. Emily only wears a pull-up to bed, and she rarely has an accident these days. So proud of her. I have a sweet video of her dancing, that I will post sometime this weekend. For now, I must get my day started. Love you all!

Happy 4th Everyone!

We had a great 4th. We woke up and headed to Oak Mountain, for Troy to run the annual Peavine Falls race. He has run the race for the last 3 years. Emily was all decked out in her festive colors...

Troy, Bart and Josh, ready to run!There they go! It was at this point that Emily started screaming "No, Daddy, I want daddy"!

So we headed to the water and walked around..Then headed to the van for a potty break. (Speaking of potty, she used the potty for all functions yesterday, and did not use er diaper at all), today she used her diaper at church a little, but she is doing so well. I have decided to take the potty with us since she appears to be more comfortable going there. Once she is all trained, we will work on trying out real potty's.Go Daddy Go!!

Followed by Breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Bart, also a tradition.

Later that day we headed to the Ross's for swimming and a cookout. (The Ross's were out of town, but we graciously hosted a small party there anyway. ~ We missed them though!)
Tippett Kiddos

And of course, if Charles Tippett is around, there will be game playing, and it is oh so fun. Ask Sharon about the last game of Blockus...

It turned out to be a great 4th, and I am still full from all of the food!

21 Months

Emily is a great communicator. We can understand almost everything she says. She loves to sing. When I put her to bed, she typically sings for a few minutes afterwards, just by herself. Some of my current favorite phrases: "Crazy Mommy", "No Way", "Thant You Mommy" (she is constantly saying thank you for things, love it!, "Hold You Mommy", she will say a name, for example "Skye-Sophia" (she always says their name together, like they are the same person), then she says "Awanna see 'um"- SO CUTE, and I am sure there are many more.

We are progressing in the potty, but still have a while to go. I am just eating her up these days, and you would too, if you could. She loves and misses all of her family.