Trip to Barton Creek Mall

Cold, rainy morning and a wet trip to the garden shop and mall. She loved the rails on the second floor, which made her mommy nervous!

First haircut

Emerson's first haircut (bangs trim) was done almost at 15 months. Nanny Dale did the honors.

Catch up on Christmas/birthday!

I'm finally able to get pictures from my phone on here so we'll temporarily backtrack to December! We enjoyed mommy's two week vacation, had lunch with daddy downtown, helped Nanny Dale decorate for Christmas, went to see Santa and smiled!!, had two birthday cakes, took family pictures, made a fort out of cushions on a cold morning, and rang in the new year with a brisk stroller ride. Whew!

These days...

We are on the go and loving every minute with our sweet girl who will be 15 months on the 30th. She is more fun each and every day!

In 12 Months I've Learned...

• how fierce momma bear love is.
• that I can feel like mother of the year when I make my baby laugh that full on belly laugh.
• that "me time" is almost non-existent.
• how proud I can be of a tiny human being.
• how little I knew a year ago.
• how to be completely organized and completely disorganized at the very.same.time.
• that being a parent is a non-stop learning process. I get one stage down-she moves to the next one!
• that reading is so, so, so important. Emerson is soaking us all in like a sponge and I love when I find her looking at her books on her own.
• that life needs to be child-proofed. Eek!
• that walking toddlers are so fun, but oh so exhausting!
• that we are so blessed to be called parents to this little one.

11 Months Brought Us...

• faster crawling. By faster I mean scary speed crawling. Our girl has the eyes of a tiger when she's crawling. Girl friend keeps her eye on the prize.
• Cruising any and all furniture...FAST.
• Eating tons of new foods: pizza, tortillas, grapes, pasta (spaghetti, penne, pesto fettucine Alfredo), goldfish, graham crackers, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, turkey slices, pea salad, stuffing, and the list goes on I'm sure.
• great napping
• 2 new teeth! Top front and top right next to front
• waking up once a night-sleep regression at it's finest.
• an appreciation for all things new! This girl LOVES to look around at new places.
• vocabulary: says banana as "ba-na-na or na-na," da da ALL THE TIME, ba, and shrieking and bubble sound blowing
• so much fun!

In 11 Months I've Learned...

(this post is late, but better late than never!)

• that being a parent forces you to make choices that are best for your little one. These can be painful and very decisive.
• the fastest route to Dell Children's Hospital.
• sucking on a straw is a huge feat that deserves praise!
• babies take a while to get used to new textures and foods.
• we will do anything for the sake of an educational moment with our child. This includes crawling on all fours, making random animal sounds, stopping to point out the name of whatever random object she points to in the middle of a store, and any other ridiculous appearing act you see us do.
• that she is the most gorgeous example of the miracle of love.