Happy Halloween

Daddy, Emme and the Jack-o-lantern

Aunt Keri

Grammy

Yummy!

Uncle Billy

Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jeanine

Creepy cupcakes

Got candy??

Picture Day

Today Emme's class took class and individual pictures. I can't believe that they actually do them with babies this little but they said they pulled it off. I can't wait to see them when they come out. Here are a few pictures we took at home after school with Tom and Jerry.

Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa Q

Hanging out with Grandpa Q
Emme and Grandma Q

Emme and Aunt Dos

Emme with Laura and Aunt Dos. Looks like someone was too busy reading to stop for a picture. Emme loves to look at books especially Sesame Street ones.

Another Tooth

Today Emme was really really off. She didn't want to eat, didn't want to nurse and even refused a bottle. She only would drink water out of a cup and ate a little bit of food. Upon inspection at Stew Leonard's while waiting for the hail to stop I found a top tooth (tooth #3) while playing "Where are Emme and Mommy's teeth?" I had to become creative since she doesn't like to have my finger in her mouth checking for teeth all the time!

Sesame Street Live

Out to Dinner

Every year around our anniversary we always go back and eat at Cortlandt Colonial where we were married. This is Emme's first visit there.

hmmmmm this looks interesting......

Paul made Emme french toast for breakfast. She liked it a lot.

Crackers and Christening Gowns

Today we got the call that Emme should come for her fitting to make final adjustments on her christening gown. I decided since the gown my sister and I wore would not fit Emme and I wanted to do something with my wedding gown because it was so pretty, I had it turned into a christening gown. A friend of Marianne's had made her wedding dress into a beautiful christening gown for Natalie and I got her name. This woman is absolutely awesome. I took the dress to her and she asked me what I wanted. Amazingly I had no idea so I took a chance and told her to be creative and surprise me. If you know me I hate surprises but since I cannot sew a button I figured a woman who worked in a dry cleaner as a seamstress for over 35 years who loves to make clothes even though she is retired would make me something I liked. And did she ever. Here are some pics of Emme at her fitting. Don't pay attention to the long sleeve shirt she has on, it was really cold. I can't wait to go back and get it when it is finally finished.

Wedding Dress Shopping

Emme had a ball helping Aunt Jeanine find a wedding dress. Emme got to pose in the three way mirror, sit on the stand and helped Jeanine pick a dress in a little over an hour. That is what I call fast. I won't put up any pics of the dress so I don't ruin the surprise but here are a few pics of Emme "helping."

"Hey where is my dress?"

Emme having a snack and relaxing while critiquing Jeanine in her dress.

Smartie's Performance Dog Title

Finally after what feels like forever Smartie was able to complete a 14 jump Jumpers course without knocking one bar down. She had advanced to the second level in all other things but Jumpers was the killer. My mom and I both did not breathe for the entire 25.25 seconds. It was the longest of our lives. When it was over I ran to make sure she made time. She did. Congrats to my dad and Smartie for finally getting that Q!

Emme is excited for Smartie but Jerry says it's naptime!

SFdeC Alumni Reunion

I was really looking forward to the SFdeC Alumni Reunion as was my sister and mom. However it wasn't as great as we thought it was going to be. We really enjoyed touring the building and looking at all the old photos which were displayed wonderfully as was the Bicentennial Quilt. The quilt was laid out ont he gym floor and when it was made was the largest quilt in the world. It was even displayed at the Smithsonian! But the price was way too high for the food that was served and not many people who I knew were even there. My mom felt the same way and she taught there for over 30 years.

Emme enjoyed crawling around on the gym floor.

My mom and her class made the seasons patches on the quilt.

Emme in the box

Emme is starting to pull herself up onto things now. Here she is in a diaper box I was pulling her around in. All of a sudden she decided to grab onto the side and pull up to a stand. Tom and Jerry watch out!

Pincher grasp

Emme has been practicing her picking up skills and has moved on from the rake to the pincher. Here she is eating some peas. She thinks they are more fun to squish than to eat!

Stuffed

Too many animal crackers, not enough time!

Shopping for Specs

Today my mom and I had eye doctor appointments. While we were waiting Emme tried on some frames to see what size and style would work best when the time comes for her to get her glasses. I was happy to see that frames are so much more appealing than when I was a kid but these frames are $150 not including the lenses. Who would have thought babies could have designer "Barbie" frames! Barbie and Hannah Montana are like Prada and Gucci for babies!
Today was also the day Emme "successfully" drank out of a sippy cup. She had been attempting before with water only and after I saw how she spit and spilled it all over I was not putting any breastmilk in for her to waste. My supply started to drop since going back to work and the doctor said we could start Emme on whole milk at 9 months. At about 8 months I was not producing enough for her bottles for school and the doctor said to go with formula and wait another month for whole milk. I tried formula and breastmilk mixed for ONE day and Emme had terrible gas and had 10 bowel movements which resulted in horrible diaper rash that lasted almost a week and she was even on probiotics! I don't even want to think about how yucky it would have been minus the probiotics! In the past she had a reaction to several formulas way back when we were told to supplement and I don't know why. So I exhausted my freezer supply of breast milk and 2 weeks shy of her turning 9 months I started mixing breastmilk and whole milk in her bottles for school. Emme loves it and her belly does too so far! She will still get nursed in the morning and at night and on weekends but mixing whole milk into the bottles of pumped milk is making life so much easier.

Cheeks!

Well I am 8 and a half months old now and moving and grooving. I have my own little slither crawl I do but I prefer to stay sitting in one spot. I like to dance to music too. My cheeks are getting chubby but I am still a skinny banana shaped baby!