Emerson's Little Gym Class

Emerson started her summer session at The Little Gym a few weeks ago and she absolutely loves it. In the picture below, she is watching the big kids class before her, ready to get in there and play. She loves crawling on the mats, chasing the bubbles, learning how to do flips, hanging on the bars, chasing bouncy balls and even walking on the balance beam. You can see below the instructor used Emerson as an example of how to hold the kids as you teach them how to walk it. It is a really neat program and I hope to take the fall class as well.

Emerson Goes To The Zoo

Last Sunday, we took Emerson on her first trip to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. Luckily, Mike the gorilla did not get out of his habitat that day. Two days prior to our visit, Mike climbed a bamboo tree out of his habitat and walked around the zoo to see what it felt like to be a patron rather than an exhibit!

We had a lot of fun and Emerson got to see so many animals. It was easier for her to see the animals that were closer to us, rather than the lions, tigers and bears that were a good distance away in their exhibits. She did not nap on the drive up, so we didn't get too many smiles out of her, but we will try another visit this fall when she drops that first nap and can enjoy the zoo even more. Happy Father's Day, Chris- to a wonderful father and husband. We love you. Happy Father's Day also to Grandad and Pops!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Emerson Goes To Aiken

Emerson and I recently went to Aiken for the weekend to visit Grammy and Grandad since Daddy went to Louisiana to see Wes and Korie Ellison (who are expecting their first baby- congratulations)! We went to Carolina Bar-B-Que on Saturday and also spent lots of time playing at the park and went on a few walks. Since the water was so cold in the pool, I was just going to put Emerson's toes in the water, but she liked it so much, we let her get in all the way! She is a nut and loves the pool. Thank you Grammy and Grandad. It is great to have Grandad back from California!

Emerson Visits The Charleston Animal Society

The day after Emerson's birthday, we went to visit the animals at the Charleston Animal Society. Over the last six months, Grammy, along with her teacher friends, collected items needed by the little animals . So in honor of Emerson's first birthday, we donated boxes of items the animals could really use.

Below is a picture of Emerson presenting Lucy (one of the newest additions to the facility ready for adoption) and one of the vet technicians with boxes of tennis balls, shoe boxes (to be used mostly for cat litter boxes) chew toys and towels.

Thank you Grammy for your great idea as well as your donations and for doing this in honor of Emerson's birthday! We had fun visiting the animals and will go back soon with more items to donate. This has also sparked me into getting back to volunteering with them and will be helping with their marketing (mailings and events) in the near future.

Emerson's Birthday Party

What a fun weekend it was! Grandma and Pops came into town on Thursday to have some extra play time with the birthday girl. On Friday evening, we had a nice lobster dinner with Grandma, Pops, Aunt Melissa and Uncle Thomas.

Thank you to everyone that could attend the party festivities and for all of your help on the preparation side- from watching Emerson while I ran errands to making the cupcakes and putting the sprinkles on top- it was a lot of work, but so much fun. The post party activities included a little family flip cup time- as you can see in the back yard. The GIRLS won- for those of you wondering. Although, there will be a rematch this summer in Hilton Head.

Emerson and I took her new bike trailer for a spin to the pool on Sunday afternoon. Poor thing was just about riding on the floor of it until our neighbor, Janie, showed me how to properly strap her in-oops! Emerson loves to splash everyone around her at the pool and she checks out all of the kids around her, she is very observant.

Enjoy the show!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Emerson's New Do, Take Two

Emerson woke up from her nap today with this some funky hair. So I tried to recreate what Miss Heather did yesterday at the salon. I spritzed her with the J&J hair detangler and fly away product, then combed it perfectly straight. I then took the front section and tried to squeeze this tiny little clear band around this fine hair and then she moved! Lost all that work, so I started over, and over and over again. Pretty soon I am chasing her around the kitchen and she thinks it's so funny! After finally getting hair in the band, I smiled and took a quick step back to admire my work... and this mini pony was standing straight up in the air! You can see for yourself how it turned out.

We went to the pool this afternoon and after dinner we went upstairs for her bath and I took the mini pony out and this is what it looked like... poor thing! But she is just so darn cute!!!

Bed head!

Mommy's version of the salon do

Emerson's First Salon Visit

Today was a big day for Emerson. Not only was it her 1st birthday, it was her first hair cut! We walked into Bangs and Bows and she looked around for a few minutes, then saw some toys and it was go time. Miss Heather put Emerson in the "pink car" chair and put the gown on her. Then Miss Heather looked at me and said,"Ok, you can get your last picture of her hair this way before we start." Funny how she knew that was coming! (Not her first rodeo, hmmm). Emerson is not sure what is going on at this point and Miss Heather sprayed water in her hand, and then smoothed it on Emerson's hair rather than to squirt her all over like she was on fire. I immediately liked this woman. We went over what I wanted to get out of this cut- eventually want a bob or lob (longer bob) and she basically cleaned up what she had and got rid of the mullet that had creeped up on us. Emerson didn't know what was going on, so she got a little fussy, so I gave her the paci and read her a new book she got over the weekend. She was fine after that. I was VERY happy with Emerson's new do. Miss Heather put some of Emerson's hair in a little baggy for me for her memory book and proceeds to put her hair in a mini pony tail and put my bow in there. Emerson didn't even mess with it! So I got a few more pictures and then let her play with the toys for a bit while I captured pictures of her from every angle possible to show off the new do.


Of course, when we got home, Emerson had the sneaky feeling that something was in her hair. She felt around for a few seconds and then yanked that bow out, but the mini pony was still there- SCORE ONE FOR MOM! Enjoy the pictures!


I added a few of her playing soccer with the Still Family next door. She was walking all over the yard trying to get that soccer ball. It was so cute. She is really getting around now. Still falls a good bit, but jumps right back up without using her hands, which impressed the heck out of Pops, Grandad and Daddy! I will get some video on the site soon.

Very happy girl!

Playing with toys after the cut. You can see the pink car she got her hair cut in behind her.

I love this picture!

Her first stab at pulling out the bow

Still trying to pull it out

Gone

Emerson's First Birthday

Emerson and I had a wonderful day together celebrating her big day. Since it was her first birthday, we did all things she loves. We went for a walk this morning, swung on the swings and even went down the slides. Emerson had her first trip to the salon, had lunch at Moe's, went to see our favorite friend, Natalie, at Polka Dot Papers, went swimming with our friends Laura and little Maya, played with the Still Family and topped off the day playing with Daddy when he got home from work. It was a jam packed day, full of fun.

I must have sung the Happy Birthday song a hundred times to her today. She just lit up each time I sang it, so I just kept doing it! We had a the best time. I am so lucky to be with her each day. We love you sweetie!

Before the first hair cut!

The new bob (almost)

Miss Natalie

Emerson, Dr. Laura and Maya at the pool

Emerson wanting to play soccer with the big kids at the Stills

Showing off to Daddy her new do (he approves).