50th Day of School

What does kindergarten do on the 50th day of school? Dress like they are from the 50's, of course! Complete with a sock hop, moon pies, and coke floats.

She is having a blast this year. And learning so much too!

Rockin' Ever After

Got a wild hair the day before and decided to take Ella to Disney on Ice! It was princesses, and my girl is a tad bit obsessed with them, so it worked out perfectly. And we got to go with Ava, Ella's new princess protege, and they had a blast!

Ariel:

Mickey and Minnie:

Rapunzel:

Intermission:

Merida:

Belle:

and the Grand finale:

Princesses at heart:

Sure do love this girl.

Fall Festival

Ella's school does a pretty big fall festival, so we went on out to celebrate and have some fun with games, friends, and food. Ella even won a cake at the cakewalk! 

16 Months

Emily, you are 16 MONTHS OLD today!

At sixteen months, you:

• weigh 24lbs and 9ozs (no change) and are 31" long.
• wear a size 4 diaper, 18 to 18-24 months clothes, and a 4 or 5 shoe.

• Have 12 teeth. The constant hands in your mouth and those bulging spots on your gums lead me to believe there are four more on their way.
• Sleep. Just sleep. Just like I prayed you would.
• Take 21 ounces of your medical formula, Periflex Junior. 120g in those 21ozs.

• Your phe levels have been low. Hovering right below a 2. They increased your Phe from 200 to 210mg a day. They are still kind of low, so we will see what the weeks to come bring.

• HUGE milestone! You lost your pacifier this month! Let me rephrase that....I took your pacificer away this month. Holy cow. It was a day and a half of not fun. Screaming to octaves I didn't know existed. But it was short and sweet. And I'm glad it's behind us. I swore you'd go to college with it.

• Love to eat or refuse to eat. If you're hungry: watch out! If you don't want to, there's not a chance we can force you to eat.
• Eat pretty well with a utensil. It's upside down but you manage to shovel some food in there.

• Are walking! Not just taking steps anymore but walking. Now don't get me wrong, you still get down and crawl, but each day you take a few more steps on your own. I really can't believe it.

• Favorites: Elmo, Dora, books, baths, messes, TV, "dancing", and coloring with a pencil, pen, marker, or crayon. 

• Have a mentioned you love Daddy? I think it's getting worse. Pretty much if he's around you cry if I hold you. Seriously. I love you...even if you don't love me  most.
• You're pretty independent. And you let us know if you want to do it on your own.

Welcome Home, Uncle Erik

Our favorite soldier, Uncle Erik, has been in Afghanistan since January. Since he was headed home, we headed to Ft. Stewart to welcome him! The kids are absolutely crazy about him...I think it's because he's one of them.

The soldiers arriving on base.

Entering in while in formation.

And all ready for hugs!

We went down to Savannah and had Lady & Sons for lunch. Nothing in this world says "Welcome Home" to Uncle Erik like Southern food...and a buffet at that!

I will say that this day was incredibly meaningful for me. I think every citizen in this country should attend a homecoming ceremony. The amount of pride that I had as I watched anxious mamas, eager wives, and excited children is indescribable. Some of the women held tiny babies that met their fathers for the first time that day. It was amazing. I am proud of Erik for his service and thankful to each of our soldiers and their families for sacrificing on behalf of my family's freedom.