First Christmas

Emerson has had a very busy holiday season. We spent Christmas Eve opening gifts at Grammy and Grandpa's house before going to church. It definitely was a fun Christmas with Emerson, Ben and Mackenzie. It's amazing how much two more little ones can add to the excitement of Christmas!

On Christmas, after opening gifts at home, we spent the day with family and friends. Emerson had a lot of fun playing with her cousins Ellie and Katie and her best friend, Kate. It was a very merry first Christmas!

A Southern Christmas (and birthday!)

We were fortunate to spend the weekend before Christmas down in Louisiana with Emerson's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Our first day there was nearly 80 degrees! It made great weather for the family party where over 100 relatives showed up to Emmy's grandparents house.

Emerson had so much fun playing with her cousins, Kaleb and Nya. Finally, they are starting to interact and play together. GG and Granddad bought Emmy a roller coaster for Christmas and all the kids loved that - even the grown ones!

Emerson also had her first birthday celebration complete with decorations and cake. It was a great party, but surprisingly, Em was afraid to dive into the cake. She enjoyed the icing but couldn't be convinced to grab the cake. I'm sure that will change with time!

O' Christmas Tree...

We went to the country to cut down our Christmas tree. It was a cold day, so Em was very bundled. She picked out the perfect tree and has been very good about leaving the decorations alone.

Emerson also met Santa for the first time last week. She didn't cry, but wasn't too excited about sitting on his lap. We had dinner at the mall afterwards, where she relaxed with a little snack.

First Thanksgiving

Emerson had her first Thanksgiving dinner and loved it all, especially the sweet potatoes! Just watching her walk all over and seeing her smile makes me realize how much we have to be thankful for this year.

We also took her 11 month pictures. If you look closely, you can see her two little teeth. I can't believe her next set of pictures, she'll already be a year. Time sure has gone by quickly, but it's been more fun than I could have ever imagined.

Big Week!

Over the weekend, two of Emerson's bottom teeth became visible! She's been a tough little girl and didn't fuss much while they broke through. Emmy's also walking all over now and is into everything, especially messing up Daddy's tv! She definitely prefers walking over crawling and it has become her primary way of getting around. The video shows her walking across the living room, but she has also mastered turning around as well as pushing things (i.e. Jackson, other kids) out of her way.

Playdate with Amalie and Walker

Emerson had a playdate with Amalie and Walker a couple of weeks ago. Amalie is such a sweetie and was very patient when Emerson didn't want to sit for pictures. By the end of the night, they were having a lot of fun!

Happy Halloween

Emerson went trick or treating in her grandparents' neighborhood on Halloween. She was dressed up as Marie, the fluffy white cat from Aristocats. It was a beautiful night, but a little warm when you are covered in fur!

10 months old!

Emerson turned 10 months old a couple of days before Halloween. We also got to hang out with Kate, Amy and Shelly. The girls have a lot of fun together but are difficult to get to pose for pictures.

This week, Emmy has also been taking more steps! She is pretty well up to three steady ones.

Pumpkin Picking

Grammy's cousin raised pumpkins on his farm this year and invited us out to pick some this weekend. The girls had a great time running around, and Ellie definitely found the biggest ones! Emerson even showed off how good she is getting at standing in her new shoes that GG bought her when she was visting this week. It's not going to be much longer before she is walking.

Emerson also had fun playing with Ben on Saturday and was all smiles for church on Sunday!

Illini Homecoming

We took Emerson up to U of I this weekend for her first football game. Although the Illini lost, it was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun!

The Alma Mater statue stands at the corner of the main campus and welcomes her children to the university. Emerson and Ben still have about 18 more years, but I think they are looking pretty ready!