Racing through the House

Yesterday was a really rainy day around here, and by the afternoon we needed to burn off a bit of steam. I cleared a path from end to end of the downstairs and set up Emma and Will with their racing toys. Will used the lion and Emma used the shopping cart.

They chased each other back and forth, laughing, falling, and crashing into each other all over the place.

No surprise, Emma won the "races"

I love this one! Cute from behind

I'm sure we'll be doing this again soon, rain or shine!

Summer Fun

We've been enjoying time in the backyard in our pool in the mornings while it is still in the shade. Both Emma and Will love playing in the water and it is so nice to be cooled off in this heat!

Kellen came over and enjoyed the pool to a few weeks ago

Will looks a bit like a drowned rat.

Ever the big sister, Emma loves to "help". Don't know anyone else who was ever like that ;-)

 And another cute one of Will!

Mini Family Vacation

A few Saturdays ago, Martin worked some overtime so that we could take a day during the week to have some fun as a family. Yesterday we had a great time together, especially with our first trip to Xbos!

Emma was very apprehensive at first, and really off and on throughout the time there, but she has talked about it non-stop since we left.

We took turns crawling around with Emma in all of the tubes and going down slides. It took some convincing for Emma to go through, especially some of the tunnels, but she was very brave.

One of the tunnels looked like a train on the outside!

Emma found the Batmobile!

It was a great day, and we were so thankful for the time together!

Bath Time!

Emma (and Will) have been enjoying bath time together lately! Will sits in the Bumbo seat and Emma loves to try to give him toys to play with...

Look at that adorable little man!

After bath time these two goobers loves giggling all wrapped in their towels.

Of course, Emma can't give Will enough hugs. He's pretty smitten, too.

These next two pictures were during a game of peek-a-boo with the towel!

Mommy date day!

We've been so busy lately, especially this week, that I decided to spend a special morning out with Emma today. She did a great job playing by herself while I got things ready. We headed out to the car and I grabbed her for a quick picture. Mid-photo she spotted an airplane...

There was a huge accident on Rt. 1 which clogged up 13 south from Middletown this morning, so we ended up taking the scenic route south, which Emma enjoyed because she got to see a helicopter dusting crops. We finally made it to Willey's!

Willey's is one of our favorite places to walk around, especially when the weather is so nice. Emma loved the fountains,

smelling the flowers,

and was tickled to death by the giant turtle!

We splashed through some little puddles!

Emma loved looking at ALL the tomatoes!

We sampled some watermelon - yum!

After we left Willey's we headed to Odessa for a picnic lunch! Emma helped by carrying our lunch bag.

We enjoyed sandwiches,

yum!

raspberries and a plum,

Emma loves raspberries (I do too!)

And a special treat - juice with lunch!

What a cutie!

Mommy's helper!

Our final stop was to the library! We picked out a bunch of new books and a train movie. Emma also got to enjoy one of her favorite books at the library, the giant picture book about trucks!

It was a wonderful morning making memories with each other! I hope that we'll be able to take advantage of the few weeks left before little brother shows up to enjoy some more sweet Emma/Mommy time!

My favorite picture from today:

Summer Storms

We've had some crazy rainstorms the past week or so here in Delaware. They come up really fast and are intense!

The other day one such rainstorm swept through the neighborhood, and we decided to take full advantage. (check out the tree in our front yard!)

Lums Pond

Saturday we went up to Lums Pond with Emma for some hiking and a picnic lunch. The day ended up hotter than we expected, so we only stayed for a few hours.

On the ride up, Emma slept:


We watched a little cricket:

Martin carried Emma in the Baby bjorn:

And Emma fell asleep while we hiked:

What a cutie!

I mowed the lawn today!

With one of these...

It was hard work, but fun too. I think I have officially recovered from having a baby! I'm feeling good right now, likely because its so nice out, but I will probably be very sore tomorrow!

Driving and talking and eating and lots of new pictures!

Thats the short version of the last few days for us!

The driving part was to Baltimore Friday night (tired late night!), short trip to White Marsh for me, mom, and Sarah on Saturday before the trip to and from Hagerstown on Saturday, then back to Middletown on Sunday.

The talking part was everyone -- including Emma! No real words (though my dad claims she said ma ma), but she has turned into quite the noise-maker with tons of adorable babbling, cooing, and other fun noises.

The eating was out of necessity, but we did have a really nice cookout in Hagerstown at Oma's, which was the main reason for our travels this weekend!

And lots of new pictures as follows, with a little more detail...

While I packed on Friday, Emma slept:

I also listened to the Westing Game on (book on cd), one of my favorite children's stories recommended by Trish!

We went to Caregroup on Friday night, then left for Ellicott City. Sarah was flying in from Miami late that night, and we arrived about 5 minutes before my parents got home from the airport with her. Sisters reunited! (sadly minus one) It was a really late night for us, especially for Martin, who had been up since 5:30!

Saturday I went with Mom and Sarah to David's bridal for Sarah's dress fitting and to get bridesmaids dresses for me for Sarah's wedding and Jen's wedding. We also made a quick trip to Ikea in White Marsh for lunch (delish) and to look at options for the centerpieces for the wedding. Martin and Emma had some daddy-daughter time which included both of them sleeping in!

We drove up to Hagerstown to Oma's for our cookout. Jen and Joel were there!

Emma wore her adorable sundress that Aunt Sarah got for her.

Oma hadn't seen her great-granddaughter in over a month! She had lots of cuddle time. Emma talked up a storm and ate her fingers most of the afternoon.

She also spit up all over Aunt Sarah...twice.

A family picture!

We even got one of the two of us! usually hard to get when your photographer is 3 months old...

Emma was so tired that she fell asleep about 15 seconds after being put in her car seat to go home. We hadn't even picked her up to go out to the car yet!

For church Sunday we went to Grace. Saw Laura and Alison! and many other friends. Emma went to the nursery for the service and they said she did great - sat in a swing most of the time. It will be very exciting when Emma is old enough to go to the nursery at our church in a few months.

We headed home in the early afternoon, so we were able to take our dinner outside and eat in the yard for a little picnic before the cold front came through.

Our favorite picture of Emma from the weekend: