As Crazy as this sounds ...

You won't believe it, but on Saturday night it was the first time that Jim and I went out together and left Emily.  Yes, she is 15 months old and we haven't been out on a date.  We just love taking her with us and being around her.  But I think we may venture out a little more for some quality time together.  

Here is a picture of Emily with her grandma (& Jim) who came to baby sit her and stay the night.  I think she really looks like Jim and his mom.

The bottom picture is of Jim and I at the wedding we went to - our night out.  :)

Two Mommies

On Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate our (my twin sister Linda &  I) birthday's a little early.  Whenever I look at pictures of Linda and I, I think of my nephew Joshua when he was a little younger and when he saw pictures of us he would say "Two Mommies."  In person he never got us confused or considered me his mommy.  

Swimming with Daddy

On Sunday night we enjoyed what might be our last swim at my parent's pond.  It sure has cooled off the last couple of days, it reminds me of fall.  Here is Emily enjoying some time with her daddy.  She sure loves her dad, he is so good with her, he is much more fun than I am.  :)

At the Fair

Last night we went to the Chelsea Fair with our friends Kelly, Tim and their two children Luke and Jada (our god daughter).  We had a great time looking at the animals and Luke especially liked the rides.  To my amazement Emily is big enough to ride on some of the kiddy rides, but we didn't go on any last night.  I think she looks so old in the last picture walking around holding my hand and clutching her water bottle in the other hand.

15 Months Old

Emily turned 15 months old this week.  Instead of going to Sears like we typically do, we decided to go to a friend/relative's house to take a few of pictures of our own.  We went to my dad's cousin's house which is where we took some of our wedding pictures.  They have an amazing garden; this is my favorite picture from our photo shoot.

Great Grandma Weidmayer

Every couple of weeks or so we go visit my grandma (dad's mom) who lives in Manchester.  I always try and take a picture of Emily with grandma, and it's been neat seeing how much bigger Emily has gotten compared to previous pictures and my petite grandma who is 5'1".  Most of the pictures are on grandma's lap in the same chair so it's easy to see the changes, but now Emily won't sit still for a lap picture.  Here are a couple of the lap pictures, one from February and then one from last October.  You can see Emily has really changed.

I had to include this picture of Emily's favorite toy at great grandma's, I used to play with this toy when I was little.  

Chelsea Fair

This morning we went to the Chelsea Fair.  When Emily got up I told her we were going to the fair to see animals.  She made animal noises pretty much the entire time until we got there - Moo, Neigh, Baa, to name a few.  Here is a picture of her with her friends Josie and Jack.  Of course it's hard to get a good picture of toddlers who don't want to be in their strollers.  :)

The kids enjoyed the fair, although Emily cried a little when the rooster kept crowing (we were a little close).  She doesn't like loud animals, and she is a little shy like her mom.  ;)

There are a couple of things I am learning as a new mom:

1.  You can't control your child no matter how hard you try.  (A little challenging for a planner like me who likes to be in control.)

2.  You can't have enough patience.  (Enough said)

We have a REALLY good baby too, so I shouldn't complain, we have been very blessed.

Heiss Cousins

Tuesday night we had Jim's family over for dinner.  Here is Emily with her two cousins Zachary (right) and Tristan (left).  She doesn't like to sit still much these days, this is actually the best picture we got of the three of them and she isn't even looking at the camera!  Emily enjoyed watching them kick the soccer ball around, she likes balls a lot, I am praying that she likes sports like her mom.  :)

Kissing Cousins

Emily loves to kiss her cousin Caleb, here he is trying to read to her and she was more interested in kissing him.  

Today my mom and I went to visit my twin sister Linda and her boys Caleb (6) and Joshua (3) at their house.  It was a hike, but we had a lot of fun.  They played with toys, went swimming and just enjoyed being together.  Of course Caleb and Joshua got the biggest belly laughs out of Emily when they were playing this game they made up with some balls.  Too bad the summer is almost over and school starts soon.

Emily loves Kittens

Here is a couple of pictures of Emily playing with our neighbors kittens.  They are so adorable, if I wasn't allergic we would bring one home.   These neighbors are great too, of course we had to shoot a couple of hoops while we were there.

Mother & Daughter Picture

I thought this was a nice picture of Emily and I after church today.  You can see she looks just like me.  :) 
 

Old Next Door Neighbors

Yesterday we had a BBQ with our old next door neighbors from Livonia.  They are simply wonderful people and their kids are such a joy to be around.  They have twin boys Danny (left) & Joey (right) who are six and Jessie who is eight.  We had a great time catching up, and sure miss having them next door.  Emily just loved playing with them too - Jessie was so good with her, like a little babysitter.

Swimming at Lifetime Fitness

Today Emily and I met a friend of mine and her two boys at Lifetime Fitness.  They have a wonderful zero entry pool that Emily just loved.  Here is a picture of Emily with Heather and her two boys.  Heather and I used to work together, it was so nice to catch up with an old friend.  Unfortunately we live over an hour from each other.

Beautiful Girl

I just had to share this cute picture I snapped of Emily today.  We didn't do anything special today, so no exciting news.  

Our Basketball Player

Here is a picture of Emily squealing with delight with her new basketball from our neighbors.  Our next door neighbors have a new basketball hoop and we go over there some nights on our walk and shoot hoops.  Emily watches in her stroller, and giggles and laugh as we bounce the ball.  Emily likes to touch the ball, but they are really too big for her so they got her a miniature ball, which she just loves!

Boys boys boys

Tonight Emily and I got together with my friends from college and their children.  We tried to get a picture of the kids, but it didn't really work out, they were too busy.  In the picture we have Sherri's husband Pete, Caden (4), Chase (16 months), Ethan (12 months this week) and Emily (14 months).  My friend Shanan has Caden & Chase, her twin sister Sherri has Ethan and then our other friend Cathy joined us (no children - yet).  It was fun, but busy, and I think boys are more active than girls?

Storytime Fun

Every Tuesday morning we go to the library for story time.  Emily loves this little play house they have, she pulls back the curtain and says "boo!"  It is so adorable.  We read books, sing songs and then there is open play with toys and books.  Usually there are 10-12 babies there.

New friend Josie

This morning we went to play with a new friend we met at the library.  Josie is one month older than Emily, and they were so cute together.  They do a lot of the same things and enjoy the same toys.  It was fun to seem them together.  

The first picture was before we left, of course the bow came out before we even got out of the house.  Josie's mom Jaime gave us some new hair ties to try which we hope Emily can not pull out of her hair.  

Playing with Grandpa Weidmayer

Tonight my parents stopped by before Emily went to bed.  It's so nice to have them close by, these random visits are so much fun.  Here are a couple of pictures of Emily enjoying her grandpa.  Of course he lets her play with all of the things we don't; eye glasses case, cell phone, etc.  Grandma always seems to teach her a few new things too, we can thank her for Emily making monkey noises which is simply adorable.

Ashyln & I at Domimo's Petting Farm

Today Emily and I met with a friend I used to work with and her daughter.   Ashlyn is one week younger than Emily.  We went to Domino's Petting Farm, it was really nice, they have a lot of animals that are very tame, and you can feed them out of your hand.  Here are a few pictures  - Cherie and Ashlyn on the hayride, Ashlyn feeding the goats and then Emily feeding a calf.

EMILY IS WALKING! :)

More Animals

Last night we had our friends Julie and Blake for dinner and then we went to visit our neighbor/cousins animals.  They have a little of everything - pigs, goats, cows, steers, and sheep.  Here is Emily and Blake with the baby goats, they almost 4 months old.  I think the "BIG" cows might have been their favorite animal.  :)

Lunch with Angela

Today we took my friend Angela out for a belated Birthday lunch.  She used to work with me, so we stopped in and saw some of my old co-workers.  It was good to see some old friends and catch up.  Here is a picture of Angela and Emily at lunch.

Emily's First Camping Trip

This weekend we went camping, and I think some people thought we were crazy.  I had images of Emily getting really dirty crawling around the ground, and worried about bug bites and rashes.  Luckily those things didn't happen.  She had a great time, in fact so much fun she didn't want to go to bed on Friday night.  After about 3 hours of trying to get her to go to sleep, we decided to come home and put her to bed in her crib.  

On Saturday morning we went back to the campsite and spent the day there  - swimming, playing, eating, singing campfire songs (which Emily loved) and of course Emily took a few naps.  Yesterday went very well, we decided to come home at bedtime and that we didn't want to spend 3 hours in the tent again.  

Emily loves her hats!

Emily just loves her hats, she is always wanting to put them on, and she keeps them on too.   I hope she doesn't change, because she is so cute with a hat on.  Here she has her bonnet on.  I think she looks so sweet and innocent here, but don't let her fool you, she gets in trouble too.  Her latest thing is to throw toys over the banister from our upstairs loft so they land downstairs.  I'm not sure how we'll get her to stop this one unless we put up something so she simply can't do it.

Emily has taken a few steps here and there over the last 2 weeks, but is not quite walking on her own yet.  

She is saying new words every day, it's so funny, some are unprompted, like the other day when I walked in from her nap she said poop, she told me she pooped and she had!  I guess I need to get out the potty and see if she'll use it.