And the winner is.......

Post number #6 and that would be Kerry who claims she has never won anything....but now can never say claim that fame anymore!!!  http://www.hollyandmama.blogspot.com/ but sorry she is private, but has the cutest 3 yr old bug from Taiwan!!!

I will have Michelle email you with what she needs from you!!!


Congrats to Kerry, but let's just say Emmi lee is buzzing with business, so thanks so much:)

Watch her FB page as she will add things(new dress is really cute) and will have some specials as well!!!

Ruby Day!!!

Okay so this is Ruby and if you didn't know today is "Forever Ruby Day"  My dear friend Amy and her husband are in Guangdong, China and just held Ruby for the first time earlier today.  I am just so happy for them and can't wait to meet Ruby when she makes her way to Texas.  It looks like Ruby was really brave and is doing well.  Please visit their site and leave them a note in their guestbook....especially if you have made this same journey(you know how much the comments mean) 

http://www.myadoptionwebsite.com/ourruby/trip062810.htm

I am just beyond excited and can't look at those pictures enough....she is so darling and she doesn't know it yet but she has a forever family that is just CRAZY about her!!!! 

I will announce the winner of the twirl skirt this evening.  Stay tuned

Emmilee Designs giveaway

Okay so we are ready for our giveaway.  We are giving away a twirl skirt in the fabric and size of your choice, but of course we need you to do a few things for us for a chance to win.

1. First head over to http://www.emmileedesigns.etsy.com/ and look at all the great things she has made and then come back and comment on here of what your favorite thing is in her store. 

2. Post this giveaway and link to her store on your blog and that will give you another chance to win

3. Post the link in your status on Facebook and yet again another chance to win.

4. While on Facebook join her fan page and you will be given one more chance to win.

http://www.facebook.com/emmileedesignsllc#!/pages/Emmi-Lee-Designs-LLC/125103170855274?ref=ts

When you come back to comment on here make sure and comment for each thing you did so you get all of your chances to win counted.  I will use Random Order.  I will choose the winner on Sun June 27 at 6:00 p.m. CST

I have know Michelle for over 20 years.  She was one of my college roommates and we ended up living in the same city out of college.  Michelle learned to sew as a little girl and has been sewing beautiful things ever since.  Her eye for detail and perfection is meticulous.  You will never buy anything that is so well made than if you purchase something from Emmilee.  Michelle is married to a super guy and has a chocolate lab named Jack that Hayden thinks is AWESOME!!  Michelle has been in the corporate finance world since she graduated from college(her eye for numbers is as good as her eye for sewing) She left that world and decided to pursue a calmer life and do something that she loves and is passionate about. 

So I am counting on you girls to get the word out and help make Emmilee designs one of your new favorite etsy stores!!

Get ready for a giveaway!!

I know you remember me telling you that my dear friend and college roommate was opening an etsy store.  Well she is now open and I am going to do a giveaway for her so you can try to win something special from her.  So I know that you all LOVE to buy things for our littlest people, and we all know the word of mouth is the best advertisement.  So I will be asking you to spread the word!!  I will tell you all about Michelle and her company in the next few days, but take at look at this darling hen twirl skirt she made that Miss H is cockadoodling as we photographed her(she LOVES this skirt because of the hens)  So run over and look at her site.  She will be adding things daily and is offering free shipping on orders over $100 for the month of June.  You will not find anything better made than if it is made by http://www.emmileedesigns.etsy.com/

So get ready, check back in a day or two and we will be giving away something really cute that I am certain you will want to win!!!

Evolution of the first ice pop

We stripped Hayden down to her diaper(her Target diaper no less....best diapers EVER) and her watch(she never takes it off) and gave her her first ice pop.  We are not sure if she liked it or not.  Guess we will try again and see if she will eat another one.  She preferred it after it melted and she could just drink the juice.  I think brain freeze set in pretty quickly.  I must say it was rather amusing watching her.  I am not sure if she knows whether she liked it or not. 

Hmm an ice pop you say.... Is this what a brain freeze feels like??

Okay I will keep trying

Okay I LOVE the juice, but can we skip the cold part please?

Meggie came to visit from KC, and the girls had so much fun playing and swimming together.  We wish that they lived closer!! 

Such sweet friends!!

Bathing Beauty

I know I am a little behind on posting. 

Hayden enjoyed swimming lessons last week.  We just signed up for the week long intro to waterbabies class to just get a feel for how she was going to react in a structured swimming class.  She did AWESOME!!  She was a total rock star as far as I am concerned(but then again I feel this way about her under most circumstances)  She was totally trusting of me in the water, and besides not really caring for learning to blow bubbles in the water(a few gulps of water and that will be cured) she did everything else including jumping to me.  We were so proud of her and now we will probably just have someone come to our house and teach her one on one, I think it is distracting to her to have so many other kids around her swimming.   

I must say that I am pretty sure she was the cutest baby there.....and she totally rocked her bathing suit too:)

yes I am totally biased here, but we did get a lot of ooohs and ahhhhs when we walked into the pool

21 months

being very sillyHayden and Mommy going to a party

I have a much better video of her, but youtube will not load it for some reason, so this is the best I could do to show you the energy at which she moves, and her ability to hold her own in a conversation.  When she is talking about daddy, she is saying he went to run errands to get gas for the mower.  I also do not let her play with the leashes normally, we are in the middle of putting our house back together after having my mother in law move back to Houston, and so things are a little in disarray and Hayden got them down to take the dogs for a walk.
 I included a few pictures for those that can't see video at work.
Hayden is 21 months old, and has been home now for 14 months.  The last month or two she seems to be changing and growing(well at least her hair) by leaps and bounds.   She now understands when you ask her a question that she is suppose to respond.  So she will now tell you her dogs names if you ask, she can tell you her name, she knows most of the alphabet, and most days she can count to 15.  I applaud Sesame Street for learning these tasks.  She can sing most of Twinkle Twinkle, and the Barney Clean up song.  She is a big fan of Lady GaGa(thank you Glee) and of the Black Eyed Peas.  Music in general is this girl's thing!!
*She is very aware of the people we see often, and knows who they belong with ie...if I say we are meeting Miss Marcy for lunch, Hayden will automatically ask about Neely Kate(aka Neely Kape to Hayden) if I say Michelle she will then say "Jack and Michael" then she says "picnic" because she always has a picnic at Miss Michelle's house. 
*She loves to say "back off crazy cockers" yep you heard me that is exactly what she says because she hears her daddy say it when the dogs are begging!!  She is also still talking about Princess Fiona cooking onions for Shrek and Donkey. 
*She wants to pet all animals...birds, fish, cats, dogs, horses....she is not picky, she just wants to pet them. 
*She has decided that she like peanut butter and honey. Yay for protein(we still don't eat meat) But she does ask for dumplings now!
* If we salt our food or use any sort of condiment, her immediate response is "me some please"  She is very good at using please and thank you, we almost never have to remind her.  She will ask for a napkin when she eats as well.  She has very good manners for being so young. 
*She is AWESOME at using a fork and spoon(and has her eye on using a knife)  She is dying to drink a soda(pretty sure I am going to have to give them up so that I am not always trying to keep her away from my drink)
*She is obsessed with me measuring her.  I had to do it a couple of times for friends that were making things for her, and now she wants me to do it everyday.
*She still loves to wash her hands and brush her teeth and ask regularly.
*Fruit snacks still rule(thankfully she likes to brush her teeth)
*She has become on a quest to own my make-up bag and all of it contents.  Have to keep my purse up high!! oh and if she sees me put on deoderant I have to pretend to put some on her too,
*She can identify all of her body parts and tell you how many she has(10 fingers, 10 toes)
*If you ask her if she likes something she will say " Mommy I love it"
*Lately she has been calling me "mom" and it is driving me CRAZY!!!
*She still sleeps great.  Down at 8 and usually up around 8:30 or 9:00(I know we are very lucky) she is still taking about a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Must have her blanket, binka and baby for all sleep.
*She weighs about 22 lbs and is 31 inch tall.  We go in for a weight check later this month, so I will know for sure after that appt. She wears mostly 18-24 month stuff and a size 5 shoe.
*She LOVES ponytails, water, playing outside, sitting out on the step waiting for daddy to get home from work. She LOVES when Connor comes over to see her, she loves to help me make the bed(she hands me the pillows and then screams I did it when we are finished) she helps me load the dryer and feed the dogs.

*We still only watch Sesame Street and Barney.  We are thinking about taking her to see Marmaduke though, she is totally capitivated when she see the commerical on TV.  Maybe the first showing of the day:)  She does not like the Wiggles.  If them come on she will start to cry and say "turn off"  haven't figured that one out yet.

*She is really not into her stroller right now, it is usually a battle. 

*If someone talks to her while we are out in public she will look at me and say "I being shy"  WHATEVER...not a shy bone in this kids body. 
*She loves to SKY*E with her uncles!!  Funny that she already thinks it is normal to talk to people on a computer....I am still in awe:)

Well that is about all I can remember right now.  Our child is very funny, smart and full of energy.  She makes us laugh all the time(which she thinks is very funny) I can't believe how fast she is growing up.  It is so fun watching all of the changes, but makes you sad that the little baby that came home is becoming quite the toddler.  Every single day I say thank you, I count my blessings and remind myself how VERY lucky we are to be the parents to such an awesome kid!!  She seriously is such a blessing and I just can't explain with words how happy I am to be her mommy(not mom)