16 weeks!

I am going to attempt to blog a little more often in order to keep our family and friends updated on the major changes taking place in our growing family right now. I am officially 16 weeks, which is CRAZY. This pregnancy is flying by. I guess that is what happens when you are busy chasing a toddler around (among other things.) This pregnancy has not been treating me quite as well as my last. With Emma Grace, I was sick from 10-14 weeks and by sick I mean slightly nauseated until about noon every day. I never took any meds, but I would suck on "preggie pops" and drink sprite every morning. Literally at 14 weeks (the official end to the first trimester), I woke up feeling fabulous and full of energy. The rest was easy breezy (well until the end but that is another story.) THIS time, I have been sick since 6 weeks and STILL AM. Not only am I sick in the morning, but I am sick in the afternoon and evening too. I am also taking prescription meds (in order to ahem, keep my food down). Morning sickness takes on a whole new meaning with a toddler, let me tell ya.

16 weeks

House update: We put our house on the market last Friday and we have accepted an offer. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to jinx it, I know these things can always fall through. The plan once we close is to move in with my in laws (The Furlongs) until our house is ready. Our builder typically needs 120 days to do a remodel such as the one we want, however he understands that I am a hormonal pregnant lady who would REALLY REALLY REALLY like to be in her home before this babe comes. He is being really kind to work with us and I feel like he is truly trying his best to make that happen. I know it is a long shot and "houses never get done on time" but he has already started attempting to get things done even though we don't close until March 9 on our new home. He also is planning on beginning work March 10. By getting things done, I mean he has already created the floor plan and we are planning to meet with him this week to start choosing the pieces that need to be ordered. His plan is to order everything so it is here and ready to be put in when the house gets to that point. Fingers crossed folks!! I can't wait to get in and take some before pics!

Emma update: She is growing SO MUCH and starting to talk SO MUCH. She is so so so much fun right now and I just love seeing her personality. She loves to sing and she literally does not stop dancing. I cannot wait to put her in dance. I mean, can you imagine her in a leotard and tights?! I'm dying already!! I looked it up, she can't start until age 3. I'm sure it will be here before I know it. She loves her babies, accessories, and any animals that sing and dance. She has a love hate relationship with her Cozy Coupe (little red car). She prefers to climb in the window instead of the door which sometimes does not end too well. She also can only make herself go backwards and gets really frustrated trying to flintstone it on the carpet. She also just learned how to open lever doors. Awesome. She couldn't wait until we moved? I feel so blessed to have her in my life (probably more so right now since I am a hormonal pregnant lady), but seriously, I cannot imagine my life without her. I could just kiss those cheeks all day... and I do.

XOXO,
Lexi

Big News!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year! We had an amazing Christmas with Emma Grace. Even though this was her second Christmas, I felt like it was her first because this was the first year she got excited about things... and oh boy was she excited! She LOVED the "tee!" (tree) and would make me turn on the lights every morning. She had fun playing with her "eff" (elf) and looking at "ights!" (lights) at night. She was very good at only looking at the tree and only touching ornaments that she was allowed to touch. She also never tried to open any presents before the big day. (However, when the time came, she had more fun ripping open that paper than playing with the actual presents themselves I think!) Christmas took on a whole new meaning with a little one! Brian and I felt so blessed and thankful this year.

Big News #1:

Right before Christmas, Emma announced her big news! We find out the gender on February 5th and will have a small gender reveal party on the 8th.

I celebrated my 31st (seriously? I'm 31??) on Dec. 26th at Terillis in Dallas with a few friends and family. It was fun to have a night out and it was our first time to actually have a paid sitter stay with Emma. (I put Emma to bed before we left so she actually just got paid to watch TV... not a bad gig.)

Big News #2 (unless you count my birthday, which I don't...):

On December 29th, (after another deal fell through), Brian and I were driving through our dream neighborhood (Canyon Creek in Richardson) when we ran across a home that was marked "coming soon." We called the realtor, a few hours later saw the house, and an hour later made an offer. The next day they accepted our offer and we immediately called a builder that does wonderful work in the area and asked him if he would take on a huge remodel job. He accepted, and as soon as we close will start a 4 month reno job. Serious gut job folks. Think Property Brothers. (I wish!) We put our house on the market this evening and are planning on moving in with Brian's parents until our house is ready. (July 1... which coincidentally, is my due date.) For those that don't know, my sister was born on moving day. Hoping the baby holds off and doesn't pull an "Abby" but I have a feeling he/she will be here before then. 

Big News #3:

Brian got a promotion at work! We were very surprised and not expecting it at all. It just goes to show what a hard worker Brian is! I am so thankful to have a husband who works so hard to provide for our family.

Meanwhile, my business has taken off and I have a trip to New Orleans planned for a conference in March that I am very excited about! 

2014 has already treated us so well, I cannot imagine what else we have in store! 

Shameless plug: please scroll down my facebook page and vote for Emma's picture in the contest posted (you also have to like the photographer's facebook page)!! If we get the most likes, we will win a gallery canvas worth $300 from our family photographer! THANKS!

XOXO,

Lexi

Emma is (almost) 15 months!

I am really bad about updating this blog due to spending most of my "free" time with work stuff... however, I wanted to quickly give an update on our little fam. In the past couple of months, Emma's personality is really starting to come out. She is at such a fun age now. (Of course I think I say that at every age.) Here are some recent pics...

Emma LOVES going to the park... she always goes straight to the swings! 

Emma loved the pumpkin patch this year!

More pumpkin patch...

She also loves the slides at the park and is a little daredevil... wanting to go down the big slides too!

We went to Austin to visit friends and she had so much fun playing with her friend Dean!

First pig tails! (Thanks to her teacher at MDO!)

Emma's first time to Trick or Treat!! 

Look at that tail!

She had a blast!!

Emma can say:

• mama
• dada
• uh oh
• jump
• all done

Emma can sign:

• all done
• please
• berries
• more
• waffle
• eat
• drink
• milk

Emma loves to:

• sing and spin to "ring around the rosies"
• do the hand motions to "itsy bitsy spider"
• go to the playground
• go for walks
• pick out her shoes (a girl after my own heart!)
• read! (she will go pick out books from her room and climb into my lap for me to read... the teacher in me LOVES this!)
• explore every house and place we go to!
• climb on everything!
• open drawers and cabinets and explore everything inside (she brought me a bowl from our china the other day... eek!!)
• stomp on leaves outside

Her teacher at school says:

• she loves to read and play outside
• she is very compliant (woo hoo! go emma!!! keep this up pretty please!!)
• she loves to eat (always eats all her food)
• she naps on her mat very well!
• she waves and blows kisses to the big kids when they go by

OK, I think that's all I've got for now... 

XOXO,

Lexi

Happy Birthday Emma Grace!

We made it to a year! Sweet Emma is a daily reminder of how blessed our family is and I am so grateful that God gave us this precious angel baby. We had her party the weekend before her actual birthday because one of my cousin's was getting married the following weekend AND my sister moved to MIZZOU the same day. We had so many friends and family come out to celebrate her birthday. She truly is a very lucky little girl. Here are some pics...

 Emma smiling while we sang her the birthday song.

Emma LOVED the cake that our talented friend Erin made!

All of my "girl" cousins on my dad's side. 

(Emma is the first great-grandbaby so she gets all the attention!) 

Auntie Abby and I with Emma :) 

Emma loved splashing in the pool! 

What a lucky girl! She got so many presents! 

Mama and Dada with our lovie!

I took a million pictures and there are more on facebook if you missed them and feel like scrolling through all 3,000 of them. 

Here are her one year stats...

Weight- 20 lb 13 oz (50%)

Height- 28 1/2 inches (30%) petite like her mama

Everyone always comments on how tiny she is and we can't figure it out because she isn't that small! We contribute it to her small amount of hair and lack of teeth. Emma finally managed to pop out one tooth just in time for her birthday! Hallelujah! We were beginning to wonder... ;)

Just for fun...

Emma loves....

-watermelon

-bringing books to mama and dada to read

-ice cream

-swimming

-her lovies

-her blanket

-carrying things around the house (including her wagon and small chairs)

-Micky Mouse Clubhouse

-waffles

-putting things in and taking them out

Emma does not love...

-when mama and dada tell her "no"

-having her diaper changed

-having her face or hands wiped

-help (she wants to do it herself)

-sippie cups (she prefers bottles, a habit we need to break says the doc!)

Emma can...

-walk! (yay! big girl!)

-clap

-wave

-blow kisses

-sign "more," "waffles," "milk," "eat," and "all done"

-shake her head yes and no (thanks Uncle Jeff for teaching her that!)

-climb on everything (she is houdini in the grocery cart and can get out of every strap... yikes!)

-feed her babies bottles (so stinking cute!)

-point at fun things

I am sure there are tons more... but that is all I can think of for now! 

We love our baby girl and are so proud of her! :)

XOXO,

Lexi

Sweet Summertime

Once again, time is flying by! July is just about gone and August will be here... which means Emma Grace will be a BIG one year old! I'll definitely have to post about her first party. We are very excited and looking forward to celebrating our little one with many friends and family.

Here are some pictures from the last few months...

In May, I got to sneak away to Puerto Rico on a girls' trip for a few days. Here was the view from our hotel room... It was gorgeous! I had a blast with my best friends. It made me feel (once again) so thankful to have so many close girl friends to share so many memories with.

Emma got to go on her first boat ride this summer. (Well outside my tummy anyway...) She loves the water and likes the boat, but HATES her life jacket. We even tried buying a second life jacket to try with not any luck... She was a trooper though and we spent several hours on the lake and she did great!

At the beginning of June, Abby graduated from Keller High School. It was pretty cool to see her graduate from the same high school I graduated from 12 years earlier. I still cannot believe she is off to college. She was beginning first grade when I graduated!

We went down to the bay (Kemah) with Brian's family. It was so nice and relaxing to get away for a bit to such a beautiful place.

Emma loved playing in the fountains on the Kemah boardwalk!

In July, Emma celebrated her first July 4th. We took her to a parade and she LOVED watching all the floats and people. She proudly held up not one, but 2 flags the entire time. She was in awe. :)

After much thought and deliberation, we finally decided to sell our boat. We would ultimately like to get a larger one in a few years when we are done having kiddos and when we can (hopefully) get a larger one. Here is Emma saying one last goodbye! (She is wearing the dress that mom brought her back from Puerto Rico.)

We also went to Brokenbow, OK for a Thornton Family Reunion (or Fiasco as we like to call them). We had a blast and it made me feel very blessed to have so many close family members to spend time with. We made SO many great memories in that weekend alone! ...and I think we have a new board game obsession... TRAIN GAME!

Emma celebrated her 11 month birthday this month as well... I had to share this adorable pic!

Another favorite of Emma's is her water table... (yes she is sitting in it).

That has been our summer in a nutshell! We are loving sharing this summer with our sweet little girl! She took her first steps a few weeks ago and is now up to 20 steps in a row!! Wowzers! She is keeping me on my toes now! She loves to climb on EVERYTHING and stand up everywhere. I am pretty sure she has magical powers, because she can get out of every seatbelt in every grocery cart or high chair. Uh oh! She also JUST started getting her first tooth. Hooray! (We were beginning to wonder if she had any in there???!)

Up next.... her FIRST birthday party!!

Another side note... I am SO excited to share that I have started my own company providing ABA to individuals with behavior disorders (primarily children on the autism spectrum). I am thrilled to be doing something that I love in honor of my brother, Andy. Check out my website if you get the chance! Andy's Voice, Inc.


XOXO,

Lexi

9 months...

I was so excited to start this blog and here I am already falling behind! First and foremost, I cannot believe my sweet babe is already 9 months. I know I say that every month, but where is the time going?!

She is on the move (that is an understatement!) so it is very hard to get a monthly picture now. OK just one more...

She now crawls on her hands and feet, which makes her super fast. I think she is just extra smart and doesn't want to hurt her knees. ;) At her 9 month appointment, she weighed 18 lb 10 oz (50%) and was 27 inches long (40%). The doc said she looks perfect, and I couldn't be happier!

This month, we celebrated our first mother's day together... I feel so blessed and fortunate to be the mama to this little darling. She is the love of my life and I cannot remember life without her. Seriously. What did I do with all my free time?!!  She just started eating chunky food and she loves broccoli. She still prefers purees though. I am pretty sure this is due to not wanting to pick up anything slimy (she will eat bananas by putting her mouth straight onto the tray to avoid picking them up!) She loves banging toys together and any toys with music. She has started dancing on occasion, which is pretty hysterical. We also put a swing outside on the patio and she laughs and laughs!

Next weekend, I have a girl's trip planned to Puerto Rico, I am beyond excited, but a little terrified of leaving my baby for the first time! Eek! Other than that, we are very excited for the summer months! Emma loves to swim so we will be spending plenty of time in the pool and we have a trip planned to the bay in a few weeks. I can't wait to take her out on the boat!

AND, I have some VERY exciting news to share! No, I'm not pregnant. ;) I can't share yet, but hopefully in the next few weeks or so!!

XOXO,
Lexi

Already 8 months?!

I cannot believe my little girl is already 8 months! (On April 9th) It seems like she learns something new every day! I am loving this age... In the past month she has learned to crawl (and by crawl I mean I turn around for one second and she is GONE!), pull up to standing, sit down from standing, let go with one hand, move from one piece of furniture to another, wave, and hold both arms up when I ask her how big she is (as in "SO big!"). She has also started sitting in a high chair (at a restaurant) and grocery cart, swinging at the park, eating pretty much any purees, puffs, yogurt bites, and of course her mum mums. She loves music and singing, and watching "big" kids. She also just discovered Mickey and Minnie Mouse (and okay this geeky show called Sid the Science Kid).

In the last month, she celebrated her first Easter (this was at the Arboretum in Dallas)...

and we went to the Dallas Zoo...

We also started swim lessons this past week! It's actually a "Water Babies" class through the City of Plano. (Twice a week for 5 weeks) She's pretty serious, but she is starting to have a little more fun. Today she loved splashing and kicking!

and no, we still don't have any teeth. Although, this doesn't hold her back much. The girl loves to eat! I am looking forward to the warmer weather months ahead and all of the new exciting things she will learn to do!

XOXO,
Lexi