Moms Weekend Away!

A little over a year ago, still functioning on little sleep and really having no idea what I was doing, I joined the Mothers of the Woodlands group that I found through a late-night nursing google search. The first event I attended was a baby playgroup, where I met a group of moms with babies all similarly aged (within 4 months of each other). This bi-weekly gathering quickly becoming the highlight of our weeks, but we quickly became a tight-knit bunch. It's been fun to watch the babies grow and support each other through the ups and downs. So when Clare offered to host us for a moms weekend away at her new family ranch in Hill Country, we all were pumped! Sadly, it didn't work out for our entire group to come, but 5 of us enjoyed some much needed "me" time in the beauty of Hill Country!

Grandma’s 90th Birthday

Grandma turned 90, and we were able to make it to Arizona to celebrate! I think Emmeline loved the balloons and celebration as much as Grandma! :)

WI Visit

With Nick gone in Qatar for so long (3 weeks), we decided to hop on a plane and spend half the time in Wisconsin with family. Emmeline logged her 19th and 20th flights on this trip and continues to be a rock star traveler!

15 Months

I decided to bump our updates to correspond to our check-ups at the doctor. But, man, now that I'm sitting down, a lot of development has happened in these 3 months! Emmeline continues to be a laid-back, happy baby who loves animals and people. She is more and more fun every day!

Halloween Festivities

90 and sunny sure doesn't feel like Halloween, but at least there's less humidity? Texas falls are quite brutal, but that didn't stop us from having lots of Halloween fun! Emmeline still is a bit young to truly understand Halloween, but she LOVES pumpkins, cats, spiders, and ghosts this year. Her favorite books recently have been Halloween ones, so I think it's definitely a holiday she's going to love as she gets older!

A Texas Weekend

In one weekend, we hit probably two of the biggest festivals in the state! 9.5 hours of driving in 36 hours...exhausting but worth it! Also, that's a lot of driving for a toddler! She did great but our back seat was covered in toys and snacks when we got back home as she threw things when she was finished!

Fall in Madison

What a wonderful fall weekend spent in one of our favorite cities, Madison. Although this trip was planned a while ago, it just so happened that it landed in the middle of the 10 days Nick was back in the US between long business trips in Qatar which made it even that much more special and fun for us! The cooler temps and beautiful fall colors, along with family and friends made for a memorable weekend!

Walking!

We officially have a walker! Emmeline took her first steps around you birthday, just between people. A few weeks later she took some unprompted, wobbly ones, and a week later, she was more confident and walking faster and more often. For a while she held her belly and still preferred crawling. But around 13 months, she figured out how to stand on her own without pulling up on something, and from that point on, there was no stopping her! She now prefers to walk rather than to crawl, and she loves to carry things around with her while walking!

Escaping the heat in Colorado

Colorado has officially become one of Emmeline's most visited states other than Wisconsin! This makes 3 trips in less than a year; I guess we most really love it there! :) Skee and Michelle joined us on this trip, and Troy and Melissa played wonderful hosts once again.

Seattle: Kid-Free!

To celebrate our anniversary, Nick and I were able to take a long weekend trip to Seattle while Grandma Jackie stayed at home with Emmeline. Although the weather wasn't quite up to summer-Seattle standards, it didn't ruin our fun!

ONE in a Melon

What a fabulous watermelon celebration for a little girl who certainly is one in a melon!

12 Months

1 year! No way! I'm not sure how it's possible that it was one year ago when Emmeline entered the world! Of course, while you're in the thick of it, sometimes it seemed slow, but now that I look back, it seems to have flown by! People aren't joking when they say time flies when you have kids!