Whatever It Takes

So this time change has thrown a major kink in our little schedule. I feel like with the early darkness bedtime should be at 6 o'clock. It also shortens our outside time and errand running time by an hour or so. Basically the days just seems SO LONG lately. Surely I'm not alone? It  might be harder for EC and I because I'm on solo momma duty in the evenings. No daddy backup. Most evenings these days I'm in a "whatever it takes" state of mind. As in I do whatever it takes not to go crazy/put my child to bed at 5:30! ha! Anyways tonight I was trying to find yet another activity to keep Emma Claire entertained and happy when she discovered a fun new game. 

She seriously sat like this for 15 minutes moving each little piece of food over to the other bowl. If she dropped any Gracie would scurry in and grab it off the floor! I was cracking up! 

She was so concentrated. And I was shocked that she didn't try and eat any! Maybe this means we are leaving the "Hi, I'm Emma Clarie and I put EVERYTHING I touch into my mouth" phase. 

She was so content. Then it got crazy. She dumped it EVERYWHERE and just started squealing and scattering it all over the floor. HILARIOUS I tell you. 

I should mention this whole episode TERRIFIED Dixie! ha! If EC stopped moving the food around for a second she would slink over and grab a bite of food then run into the living room to eat it. By the time it was all over the floor the dogs just ate around her. Seriously this was such a funny sight. 

At least she helped clean everything up.

 What about you? Is the time change making your days seem super long? Do you have any magic tricks to keep babies entertained/speed up time?!

My Big Girl

I feel like since Emma Claire turned one {one week ago today} she has transformed into....a TODDLER. Yep. There, I said it. It's a lot harder to realize that your baby is growing out of her baby stage than I thought it would be. 

Before bible study this morning. Doesn't she look darling in he little hat? I am obsessed.

When did she get SO BIG?! She wanted to walk everywhere today. Including to church, inside church, leaving nursery, going back to the car...see? BIG girl!

Today she just seemed so grown up to me. After bible study this morning I peeked in on her in the nursery before I picked her up. I was happy to see that she was just playing and walking around. No crying, no sad face, she wasn't being held, she was content. My momma heart was beaming. I have been longing for the day when I see her independently playing and being happy at nursery. Well today was the day.

So I have a confession. Her dress might be a 6mo Ralph Lauren dress.... ha! I just can't help to keep putting her in it and it still fits, it's just a little short. It's also warm and not to mention CUTE. I need to break down and find one in a bigger size. This one was a gift from my aunt.

Election Day!

This morning I was pretty excited because first of all the hubs didn't have to go into work early {YAY!} and it was election day! I was so excited to get to take Emma Claire to "vote" for the first time.

I was shocked to see the temperature outside when we woke up...25?! Yikes! Emma Claire decided that she needed to sport a cute little hat while I got ready. Funny story...while I was the one to put it on her at first she proceeded to take it off and then put it back on. She didn't take it off until it was time to put her bow on! ha! 

You know EC was sporting a patriotic smocked dress to show her support for her country! She also got to wear her red monogrammed bow for the first time. 

Love, love, love!

She was pretty excited to go see what all of the fuss was about.

I find it funny that I emailed a few of the above pictures to my mother and her response was..."Does she have a coat to wear?" HA. I didn't even respond. I just sent her this picture. Mom, do you not know me at all? Of COURSE she had a coat. A puffy pink one at that! 

The line was pretty long but moved quick and we had a pretty entertaining baby with us. She definately stole the show. Everyone loved her outfit and she ate up the attention. 

Like I said...my child was hamming it up for everyone in the room. But what does she do when it's time to take a picture with mommy? Doesn't even crack a smile. Oh Emma Claire...

She was SO excited to get a sticker!

Okay and maybe I bribed her with a cookie {seen in her right hand} ha!

 After we voted we ran to Target for a few things and of COURSE we had to stop by the Christmas section. Emma Claire absolutely loves anything to do with Christmas. In fact, today she demanded that she get out of the cart so she could walk around and look at it all. Surprisingly she was very dainty and didn't try to pull anything off of the shelves.

This evening Tylar came over to play so that her mommy and daddy could go vote. I love watching these two girls together. They are so funny and constantly try to "share". AKA take each others toys. I just love it. However I think they both think I'm nuts. Their faces in this picture just crack me up.

We had a great election day and I'm now watching the news coverage of the results. Fingers crossed that the right man for the job wins!

 

Her last night as zero...

The night before Emma Claire's first birthday the hubs was home {surprisingly} so we had some quality family time on her last night as "zero". I wanted to take pictures/video the entire evening because I knew when she woke she would no longer be a "baby". Although to me just because she is one, walking, saying lots of words, and acting more and more grown up each day she is still a BABY in my book!

A baby will make love stronger,

days shorter and nights longer,

bankrolls smaller,

homes happier,

clothes shabbier,

the past forgotten,

and the future worth living for.

Goofy Girl

So I seriously have SO many home decor/updating projects to share with y'all but I'm still working on having the time to finish them all. Life with a full time walker=busy busy. So today I'm sharing a series of pictures I took of Emma Claire last week that just make me giggle. She has decided that she is the queen of the dog beds. Most of the time I take the pillow out of the wicker basket and just let her have that to play with, which she thinks is HILARIOUS.

Well I hope that made you smile. I know I love those pictures. It's gotten chilly here in Virginia and this weather is making me want to stay in jammies all day long, cook some soup, and watch Christmas movies. This time of the year also makes me want to clean and organize like crazy. I think it's my way of preparing for staying inside all winter! Whatever it is, I'm loving the motivation and the fact that my house is {slowly} getting really clean and organized. It's MUCH harder than it used to be pre-baby. Organizing the bathroom cabinets (that used to take me 15 minutes) took me almost an hour this morning. ha! I just love my "helper". 

Happy Monday! 

Pretty in Pink...and Plaid?

This morning it was just EC and I. She got up pretty early due to the time change but thankfully we had to get ready for church so it all worked out. I was able to dress her before I got ready and today I picked a cute little plaid top with black pants. Usually we get really dressy for church but I was just loving this plaid too much today and she had to wear it. I added one of our newest monogrammed bows to complete the look.

She. Is. DARLING. I just couldn't stop taking pictures of her this morning. And you might notice a few changes to the kitchen in this picture! Ch-ch-changes are a comin'! 

It was pretty chilly this morning so Emma Claire got to wear her long pink pea coat for the first time. there were other kiddos running around in their front yard when I was trying to take these pictures. She was "talking" to them in this first one. Such a social butterfly!

After church we walked around and looked at pine cones for a bit before getting in the car. She loved it.

 And just for fun...silly bath time fun tonight. At least she thinks I'm funny...