So I've been a bit of a slacker...

Wow. It's been a while since I have given any sort of meaningful update. Sorry about that! I guess saying we've been THAT busy for a month isn't quite true. I just haven't sat down to do this in a while.

Emma is doing great! She is getting so big and strong! Her one year birthday was last Friday, and she is looking so old. She has officially taken steps without assistance. The first time for that was last Saturday night at the Ree's home. She walked all over the place once everyone had left (of course.) Then the following Monday we went to visit Brian at work and she walked all over the place there. Thus making me think that she will only walk in the presence of a Ree. She babbles constantly. She talks nonstop mixing in some slightly intelligible words but mostly just baby babble. From the moment she wakes up to the second she goes to sleep she doesn't stop talking. She screams even louder now when she sees Leo, and she shows joy unbridled when she sees something that delights her. It truly is a joy to watch her learn. She has started to try to repeat what I say to her, though not every time and certainly not perfectly. She is getting so good at talking! She says dada, yeah, yes, nanana(still!), liya(lydia, I am telling you, she said it!), nonny, and every once in a while she will say mama, but not often enough!
Emma also started clapping today for the first time! We went to one of those water playgrounds and she got so excited she started to clap. Then she kept doing it over and over when something made her happy. She loved to play in the water so much there! She truly is a fish, and every chance she gets she loves to kick around in the water and splash. I cannot help but think that next summer she will just take off swimming all on her own!
Her hair has grown so much in the past year, and now it is covered in tight ringlets all along the back. My mom tells me my hair was wavy at this age(and still is), but no where near this curly. So it looks like my fiery red head will also be decked out in curls! Did I mention how much she has grown? Oh and this week will be time to move into size 4 diapers. She is so chubby! We found out for sure last week that she is allergic to rice, which I would have thought was impossible but evidently so is my Granny. Who knew. She also cannot eat bananas or too much yogurt and dairy in general. And since she has turned into a picky eater, meals are getting more and more difficult. I am getting great at being creative with meal planning. I know she needs all the nutrients she can get, so it's a balance between what she will eat and what is actually good for her. If left alone she would gladly eat goldfish for every meal!
I am certain there are things I am forgetting to say and I am sure they will all come to me when I am laying in bed tonight. But I think that was a good catch up for now.

Brian is doing great. He works full time for Andy during the day, and sometimes works part time for another company to learn some real estate law. His summer class is almost over, and all he has left is the exam this Wednesday. After that he is free as a bird until August 20, which will be wonderful. We plan to take advantage by going on some sort of weekend trip somewhere. No solid plans yet, but something. He will also be going back to Geneva this fall, so the whole crazy parade starts all over again! But I don't want to talk about that.

I am doing fine as well. We got my car all cleaned out today so we could get it inspected tomorrow. We turn it back in at the beginning of August and I am going to miss it. It was such a fun peppy car. Oh well. All leases must come to an end.
I am stunned that Emma was born over a year ago. All last week we would say "at this moment one year ago, I was this or that" and I just cannot believe it's been a year already! I look back on it with sweet fondness. Emma is so precious to us, and I do not remember what life was like before her. It seems all so long ago, yet not at all at the same time. Her labor was scary, but it had it's purposes, and her life has already held so much meaning. I look forward to many more years of play and learning and growing. My how the time flies!
On other notes, Thank you all for your various suggestions on weight loss and diets. I have this past week started a detox program and a very strict diet. But the point is not so much to "diet" as it is to reteach me how to eat. So I am trying to be much more careful about my calorie intake, but just in general what I eat. I have also started getting up and walking/jogging before Brian and Emma get up. That way it's still cool and I have time to shower and cool off before Emma wakes up. I have already lost 3-4 lbs, but I think a lot of that was simply extra junk laying around that the detox has helped with. We will see how this goes!

Well. I think this has been long enough. I leave you with some pictures of my sweetie. Thanks for reading my blog in spite of my slackerness!





Emma loves the playground at the mall. These are some of her enjoying herself!





Her ringlets!








Clapping for the music! She would have been dancing if she wasn't in her high chair!