Quick Update

Sorry I don't have a picture, but wanted to get a quick update posted. Thankfully Emma was fever free today, so no trip to the doctor for blood work. Yea!! But I don't think she is feeling back to normal yet. She was very crabby today, and the littlest things lead to the biggest melt downs. It would be hard to think this during one of the melt downs, but it is safe to say that Robert and I would take them over the fevers. Thanks to everyone for checking in on us. Emma Grace is one lucky little girl to have so many people care about and love her!

Fevers, Fevers

This cute little stinker had a fever last Tuesday after she woke up from a nap. She had pretty much slept all day, so I had figured that something was going on. Tylenol didn't seem to help much, but once we got some Motrin in her, she was much better and no more fevers. The rest of the week, she seemed to be fine. She had more tantrums then normal and had a little diarrhea, but she is also getting a couple of new teeth, so we figured that teething and moving into toodlerhood were all to blame.
Well, yesterday that all changed. She woke up again with another fever. So off to the doctors we went. I was really expecting that she had an ear infection, because she has also been playing with her ears. The doctor was a little concerned because Emma was having what she considered to be high fevers. (they have been ranging anywhere from 102-104.7) She said that fevers that high are not caused by teething. So she looked in her ears, and her ears looked perfect. So the hunt began to find what was causing the fevers. She then did a throat culture, and that also came back clear. Then the real fun began when they had to Cath her for a urine sample. Emma cried, I cried, but we got it done, and her urine also came back clear.
So for now, we are going with the assumption that she has something viral and there isn't much we can do but keep her comfortable with the Motrin, and keep her hydrated.
So we are kind of on a watch until Saturday. If she has anymore fevers from Saturday on (even like this week, where they just all the sudden come back a couple of days later) we have to go back to the doctors and they will do some blood work to make sure everything looks ok there. Right now, I am keeping with the idea that this is viral, it will go away, and we won't even have to worry about labs.
For the most part, Emma is doing great. She will get little bursts of energy, and then is ready for cuddle time. We will keep you updated!

Didn't Win, but.....

The Vintage Pearl is the place where I get my personalized necklaces from. Erin does such nice work, and offers a good selection of different pieces. The other fun thing about Erin and her store, is that she is very good with her blog, and loves pictures like I do. I started following her blog while I was pregnant with Emma. So even though I have never met her before, I feel like I know her and her family!
Erin started out with her business as a online store. At one time, she was even going to let her jewelry making go, and open up a photography business. At about the same time she announced her photography business, her jewelry took off. So needless to say, the photography became her hobby and she has continued with her jewelry. It has grown so much over the last year and a half, that she is opening up her own store in Oklahoma. She held a contest since she was looking for 3 photographs, displaying her jewelry, to have on a wall in her shop. So of course I got out my necklace and camera and got busy! I really wanted a picture with Emma in it, but she was at an age where she was too little to understand "hold the necklace still", but too big to do some of the cute newborn poses. So instead, I got out some things of hers from when she was tiny. Some special stuffed animals, booties, hats, etc.
Erin announced the winners today, and even though I wasn't in the top three, my photo was shown on her blog as one of the favorites. You can check it out here. While you are there, check out her shop. So many cute things!

This Weekend

On Saturday we headed out to celebrate Robert's Grandma's 80th birthday! We had a luncheon at Marie Calendar's where over 70 people turned out. It was a fun day, but I was busy chasing Emma, so not much time to take pictures.
We were running late, but I was able to quickly take these two pictures before we left the house.
When we were at Marie Calendar's, everyone kept saying "oh she is so cute, she can have whatever she wants" so we walked out of there with 24 purple balloons! Emma was very excited about this.
One of Robert's Uncles took a lot of pictures, and I am hoping to get a couple more from him. When I get those, I will post some more!





On Sunday we headed over to Robert's Dad's house for more swimming. Emma did much better this time and enjoyed being back in the pool. She even loved to ride around in her starfish. She would lay back and relax. Then she discovered that she could fit all of the water toys in with her. She was pretty happy about this!

Teaser!

Today I got to take pictures of my friends Jamie and Doug before their big wedding day in September. We headed up to SunRidge Canyon, which is where Robert and I got married, so it was fun to be there not only to take pictures, but also to remember our wedding day! It was hot and humid, but Jamie and Doug where great sports. And with a couple that loves each other as much as they do, and a view like we had, how can you not get lots of great pictures!
Here are just a couple to tied Jamie and Doug over. I still have LOTS to go through!
Thanks guys for a fun day!!!

Road Trip to the Aquarium

Today Emma and I went with my mom out to the Wild Life Zoo and Aquarium. My mom's good friend, Shelly and her niece and nephew, were suppose to come with us, but the kids are sick so they couldn't make it. That just means that we will have to plan another trip out there!
We had a great time and of course Emma loved all the fish. One of the nice things, was that they weren't really busy, so I felt comfortable with Emma walking around on her own. She basically wondered around the aquarium where ever she wanted!


This was the first guy to greet us. I think it was some sort of an alligator snapping turtle.







Emma loved looking at this dwarf crocodile. She stayed her for long time and then would follow it when it moved around.


Following it to the other side....


These fish were so pretty and brightly colored!


Some big fish!




Poison Dart Frogs. They were all different colored frogs in here, but this one she stuck to the glass


Penguins!


The restaurant where we ate lunch at had this huge aquarium right in the center. Plus they had fun music on. Emma spent her lunch watching the fish and dancing to the music!


No more pictures mom!


You can't tell, but she is bobbing her head to the music in this picture

After the aquarium we walked around Hobby Lobby and Target. I am also doing a photo scavenger hunt on my photography site, so a lot of time was spent crossing off items on my list. Once we got back to mom's house Emma played for a little bit and she discovered that she could fit inside her toy boxes!



Emma had a great time with grandma today, and of course she spoiled both of us. Thanks for a great day mom!

4th of July Activities

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July with the Brown Family last night. The kids played together, we bar-b-qued cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and ribs, and finished the night off with fireworks. Even though it was way past her bedtime, Emma did great and even enjoyed the firework show. We drove over to an open field, so we had a great view, but was far enough away, that we didn't hear the big booms. She got antsy after about the first 10 minutes, but she would point to them, reach out to them, and even would say "wow" after some of them. It was such a fun and memorable moment to have her experience her first fire works and "official' 4th!


Quick picture with mommy while we were getting ready. I knew if we didn't take this one, I wouldn't get one later with everything going on.


Our festive cake. Unfortunately, we all ate too much at dinner, and the cake is still in the fridge untouched!


Aidan and Emma playing in the spare room. Anna calls this room "her room", and right now it is where we keep all the extra toys and futon for over night visitors. I really want to turn this into an official toy room, and want to paint it, and get a couple of storage furniture from Ikea. My goal is to tackle this project in the next couple of months.


The were playing so sweetly and quietly, but I could only get one to look at me at a time for a picture!




Julia, Christine, and Emma


Anna working on some crafts


Robert turned a movie on for the kids to watch in our bedroom. Aidan was really the only one who had an interest in watching, but I managed to get Anna and Emma in here for a quick picture!




The boys discussing how to grill the food


The boys. Notice Josh's shorts? They were actually flag shorts that Christine bought him to help him get into the 4th of July spirit!


The kids playing outside. Emma wanted to play ball, but Anna was having too much fun bouncing!






Uncle Bobby playing with the kids while waiting for fireworks. No, his feet aren't normally dirty. He was just walking outside with no shoes on!


This was our set up for watching fireworks. We had to fight off some bugs, but it worked out great. Notice how Anna doesn't look too happy? She had a little accident just as we were leaving. She was so excited, that she ran full speed into our sliding glass door. Her face is a little sore, but she is ok!




Fireworks! I was hoping to get some neat firework shots since it was Emma's first show, but I realized that I was spending more time trying to take pictures, then enjoying them with her. So I settled with these and these and put the camera down!
Thanks Brown Family for spending the 4th with us. It was a great night!!

Happy 4th of July!