"Big Mamas"

"Big Mamas" is a name that was given to us a loooong time ago by Kalynn, one of the big mamas. :) The four of us girls have been friends for 16 years! Brittany and I knew each other though our moms who became close friends when Britt was 8 and I was 12. I met Kalynn and Erica in youth group. The four of us all went to the same church and went though our entire youth group years together. We have watched each other graduate high school, college, get big girl jobs, get engaged, married, and now begin motherhood! Erica has a sweet little girl, Iris, who is currently 15 months old. Kalynn is about to welcome her miracle baby boy, Archer, in late March. She prayed for 2 1/2 years to be a mommy! Brittany is a new bride of about 8 months. I am so thankful for them! They are all "aunts" to my sweet Emma!!!

Brittany, Kalynn, and I at the beach for the day this past summer!!!
We all love the beach!

Me, Kalynn, and Erica at the lake one night in September while a
commercial was being made and we were part of it!!

Girls Day Out

My mom, Emma, and I had a girls day out this weekend. We went and grabbed lunch at a locally owned restaurant in town. Then we went to paint some pottery. Emma painted her own little coaster before heading off to play in their play room. 

 She loved painting her coaster.

 She painted the coaster all by herself and when she got tired and wanted to go play, I left it just like she had finished it. We did go back and add her name and year, but I want her to see it down the road and know she painted it just the way it looks.

I used Emma's handprints to make a leaf on a plate which is shown below. 

Mom made a plate with her handprint and then Emma's on top. The plate read "Nae Nae & Emma" and it turned out so cute!! (I will have to take a picture next time I am at my mom's and add it.)

Then we ran a few errands, before Emma and I headed home to do one of my favorite things on the weekend. NAP!!!! :) We had so much fun together. I can't wait until the next girls day out!!!

Our Little Dancer

We signed Emma up to dance recently and Tuesday was her first day! She will go every Tuesday and Thursday for thirty minutes. I feel thirty minutes for 2-4 year olds is perfect. Other dance companies in town do an hour, but I feel like that is too long to really hold their attention. The dance studio is very close to our house which makes is convenient and is the best one in town. I took dance there as a child and it still has the same owners. She cried when I left her on Tuesday, but today she walked like a big girl with her teacher to their room. I was so proud of her!! I sat out in my car and read some of my Bible. I am already looking forward to her recital in May. I know they are going to be so cute!!! Here is a picture I took of her in her dance attire. :)

And here is a picture of her just a year ago at around 18 months when we did a trial run at dance. I quickly realized she was not old enough. Waiting a year was such a great decision. She loves going to dance now!!!

Family Trip to Atlanta

We spent a short night in Atlanta, but had so much fun!! Here we are before dropping Cali off at my brother and SIL's house. She had so much fun with their two dogs. 

 Here is Emma enjoying watching videos on the iPad. We stopped halfway in Macon and ate at Barberitos! It was awesome as always. 

We got back in the car and before I knew it she had fallen asleep!!! She did not wake up until we got her out of the car at IKEA.

After IKEA, we headed to the game. Emma loved walking around and seeing the big cow (Chick-fil-a cow)!!!

She was very close to the big cow in this picture.

This was up high near the big cow. We had some of the best seats! We were on the first row on our section and our row only had four seats on it!!! There was a railing right in front of us so she could stand and not be in anyone's way!!

Here is our ultra cute room we stayed in for the night.

The next morning, we went to the Atlanta Zoo. These birds were so awesome and would fly right next to you.

She loved watching the new baby gorilla and then standing next to these figures.

We had such a blast on our mini family getaway!!

She Loves to Draw- Car Washes Not So Much

I know I have posed several pictures lately of Emma drawing, but she loves to draw!!! She goes right to where we keep the computer paper and gets some and the asks for a pen to use. She knows that she can only draw on the paper and has not tried drawing on furniture or walls.......yet! Hopefully she won't ever try that. :)

We went to get Scott's car washed on Saturday. She has been through the carwash several times. She does not love them, but is okay in her seat. Well this time she wanted to sit on the console in the front. We let her since it was just a car wash, we were both in the car, and it was located in a gated parking lot. She loved sitting up front watching everything and not sitting right by the window! I told Scott she will probably now request to sit up front every time. We rode by the same carwash this afternoon and she acted like she wanted to go back to it. Uh huh- just to sit up front. She can't fool us!! ;)

 Why does she have to look so much older than she is in this picture?!? Where did my 2 1/2 year old go? Time really could slow down some!

Life With Emma (& Friends) Lately!

We hung out with Jaxon and his family a few weeks ago. We ate pizza and then went and got frozen yogurt. 

Big Sister Kylan wanted in the picture too. :) And Emma finally decided to look at the camera.

She LOVES to draw!!

She has recently been wanting to help us cook dinner. We were preparing fried chicken this night and she was a great help!

She has also recently been wanting to wear this hats more often.

Friday night, we met Jaxon's family at the movies to see 'Planes'- it did not hold their attention. Emma sat through both 'Despicable Me's' and 'Nemo', but not 'Planes'.

So we just had our Fall consignment sale and I picked up these pj's for Emma. She has never been a fan of Santa and refuses to get anywhere near him for pictures. But recently, she is all about 'Santa Clause' so she got excited when she saw these and wanted to wear them as soon as I washed them. Maybe she will sit in his lap this year??!! :/

Back to School!!!

I started back to school yesterday. I have a very sweet group of first graders! I always get nervous for the first day, but then I get there and jump right back into it and the nerves go away. This is my seventh year teaching and I have been teaching first grade in the same room all of those years!!! I am excited to see what this school year has in store and cannot wait to see my student's get excited when they learn new things! Emma moved up in her Sunday School class this Sunday and walked right in like a big girl. Also, Emma moves up to her next daycare class on next Monday. I am excited for her to learn more new things & hopefully become potty trained sometime soon!