Too Close to Two and a Half

Next month Emma Claire will be two and a half! HOW?! I feel like some days she is still very much a baby, while other days I hear "I do it MYSELF!" about 100 times and I am reminded that she is very much NOT a baby. Since I apparently decided to take a blog break I haven't gotten to write about Emma Claire's latest antics. I have been keeping notes on my phone of funny little things she does and says. Each day with her is an adventure and she keeps me laughing. 

Emma Claire 2 years 5 months

Eats: Her favorite food right now is macaroni and cheese. Healthy food wise she loves: apples, oranges, cucumber, tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, avocados, pineapple, yogurt, basically any fruit and very few veggies. Toddlers. Some other favorites are noodles, eggs with cheese, sausage, grilled chicken, she loves "tips" aka chips, PBJ sandwiches, popsicles, and of course ice cream.

Sleeps: Bedtime is usually around 8 these days. We try to start bath around 7:30, and then move straight into her room to rock and nurse...YES nurse ;-) we are still going. HA. She naps most days around 2 and it could be anywhere from 1 hour to 3.5. It just depends on how well she sleeps. A funny fact about miss Emma Claire, she HAS to go number 2 before nap time. HAS.TO. or she will only sleep for about 45 minutes. Most days she is done with her business before lunch but some days nap time is pushed back an hour or so just to make sure she is "ready" for nap. Oh toddlers. Such particular little people.

Wears: 2t clothing and size 6 shoes. I've started buying size 7 for spring BUT they seem huge. She's still in diapers, size 5. Potty training is coming, but we just aren't quite there yet. No rush.

Loves: Momma and Daddy, Dixie and Gracie, her "other family" Tis, Baba, and Dacie (aka our friends Chris, Bekah, and their daughter Gracie), anything with ranch on it, Tangled and all Disney princesses, dogs, babies, squirrels, the list goes on and on!

Hates: Going inside after playing outside, if the TV gets turned off (which has led to zero TV most days..a new development and another blog post), when she can't do something herself, having her hair washed.

Says: Oh what this girl says...her speech is getting more conversational each day and it just keeps us laughing. We are constantly saying "WHEN did she learn that?!" 

- She loves to tell people "I'm two in October" 
- Rapunzel= "Miss Punzel" to Emma Claire
- "Calm down, mommy!"
- "Hey! How that get here?"
- "It's not workin so far"
- The other day she almost fell and then said, "Daddy! I saved my life!" 
- "That make me so happy." and the flip side if you don't go along with her plans, "That make me SO upset!"
- "Ohhhh it's beeeeautiful!"
- "that's my favorite"
- "I DO IT MYSELF" I hear this one all day, every day.

I am loving these toddler days. Although, sometimes I want to press fast forward and not stop until bedtime. Most days I just want to hit pause and soak in this stage.

Classic EC face. 

She was convinced this was a "quuuurile" hole. If you don't speak "EC-enese" that's "squirrel hole" 

Sticks+dirt=good times for a toddler. 

Always on the go. 

"I hear somfin, momma!"

 So there you have it. A little update on our almost two and a half year old. I just love her to pieces and can't believe she's so big! 

These Are the Days

Life with a toddler is busy. There's just no way around that. It's also messy, sticky, fun, exciting, and exhausting. Most days I look around my house and can easily count 100 chores to finish, messes to clean up, and projects to be finished. Right now I know I have laundry in the dryer that needs to be put away, dishes in the sink, toys everywhere, and lunch mess on the island to clean up. But in the same breath I know these days are short lived. In the moment they seem never ending, but I can already feel time slipping away from us. Next month Emma Claire will be two and a half. Closer to three than two. THREE. How is that even possible?

 Lately I've been trying to soak up these days. I know one day I will have clean floors, plenty of time to put laundry away, time to read, I will cook gourmet meals more often than macaroni and cheese, showers will not include an audience, and I will ache for these busy days back. So in honor of these busy days here is a little glimpse of what we've been up to. Since apparently I don't blog anymore ;-)

I remember when I first started blogging, I couldn't wait to have a full and busy life to blog about. Now that I have a VERY full and busy life I don't seem to have the time to blog about it. Quite ironic if you ask me. Hopefully I will start blogging again soon. I have so much to share and am constantly starting notes on my phone about funny things Emma Claire says. I need to start regularly blogging about them!

We Love Aunt Paige!

A few tidbits about Paige:

- From Houston, Currently in Dallas

- 3rd Grade Teacher

- Baylor University Graduate x2 (undergrad and masters)

- Lover of Coffee

- Hater of Chocolate, I know, I know....awful, isn't it?

- World Traveler 

- Loves to dance (if you can two step then you get bonus points) ;-) 

I've written about Paige before and this post {HERE} can tell you more about my best friend Paige. 

We met in college (at Baylor, Sic'em Bears!) and were fast friends. Even moving halfway across the country didn't keep us from staying friends. Heck, the woman DROVE WITH ME halfway across the country when I was 8 months pregnant! Best friends for sure. And she's the best Aunt. Ever. :-)

Although I like to say Paige is MY best friend, I'm pretty sure Emma Claire thinks Paige is HER best friend. In fact during her last visit Emma Claire kept saying "Aunt Paige best frand" over and over. It was so cute.

 So there you have it! If anyone knows a swell guy out there...preferably athletic, who speaks with a country twang, and can two step then give me a holler!

Cold Weather

Today I'm just sharing a few pictures I've taken since we've been cooped up in the house day in and day out with pretty cold temps outside. 

After our first snow Emma Claire had fun playing with it and eating some too.

She was signing "cold" and making her cold face. I love it. 

She has gotten a lot of use out of her headlamp that Granddaddy got her for Christmas. 

This picture isn't anything special but it was a rare moment when everything just clicked.  She was entertained reading books, I got to cook dinner and clean, a candle was burning, and I had music playing. It was just such a peaceful half hour. I had to snap a picture to freeze this moment in time.

 

Someone has a tic tac obsession...I blame Bekah for this. ;-) 

 As pretty as the falling snow is...I'm ready for SPRING! Can I get an Amen?

First Haircut 1.15.14

Well I think the title of this post is pretty self explanatory. Yesterday, Emma Claire got her first haircut! My friend Bekah asked me last week if I wanted to do a double date for first haircuts. Of course I said yes! I have been too chicken to trim EC's hair myself, so I wanted to go let a pro even it all out first. I do plan on regularly trimming it myself for a while after this. We had too much fun and managed to do it on our "weekend" so that daddy got to tag along too. 

She was a little unsure at first. 

So serious. 

But she quickly warmed up. And LOVED every second of it. 

 I love those little hands, and her sparkly nail polish.

Time to get blown dry! She loved this part too. 

Look at that smile. 

 All done!

Side shot. 

Other side. 

From the back!

Such a cheesy smile and gosh awful lighting, but I love it. 

Emma Claire and Gracie chatting. They're like "WHAT just happened!?"

Love these sweet girls. 

Bekah and Gracie!

Such.A.Ham. I love it. 

And this one...I have no clue what I'm going to do with her .

Running off some energy before lunch. 

 Cheesecake factory to celebrate!

And the picture of the day. Bekah said, "There's a sucker on my back isn't there..." right before I snapped this. So funny. 

I wish I knew what they were chatting about.

I feel so blessed by my friendship with Bekah and I love watching Emma Claire and Gracie's friendship blossom. We always get asked if they are sisters or cousins and yesterday a woman came up to me and said, "They're soul sisters. You can just tell." So now the dynamic duo has a new nickname, "Soul Sistas" and it fits them perfectly. I can't wait to watch them grow up together. Actually...I can. Because life is just moving ahead TOO quickly. I love this age and their little friendship in this stage.