Fun Times!

On Friday my mom invited Emily and I to tag along on a company "field trip". They decided they needed a break so they headed to a beautiful peony garden in Charlottesville. They knew it was either now or not until next year, as the peonies are now in full bloom! It was so beautiful there! Emily really enjoyed getting out too! Since it had been raining for a bit, it was really nice to get outdoors and get some fresh air and breathe in some sweet aromas! I am grateful to my Father in Heaven who allows us, His children, to live on this beautiful earth and partake of all of the many wonders that surround us! Peonies are just one of those beauties, but I sure love them and I think Emily does too! What can I say, like mommy like daughter!!

She had such a blast getting out of her stroller and getting to get up close and smell the peonies!

Maybe she will be a gardener one day. She is SERIOUS about her flowers!


She LOVED to smell them, and I will have to admit some of them had really great smells!

Here we are in the midst of lots of peonies! Emily couldn't take her eyes off of them!

Here's an overview from the top of just half of the peony garden!! It was really beautiful!!

On Saturday we woke up and Micah went to clean the church for a little while, and then we all went to Kmart to get our pictures taken. It was a nice experience, but I definitely prefer family shots that you can take with your own digital camera. However, we did get some good shots of Emily and some good shots of Emily and me and Emily and Daddy! It was just the family ones that didn't really turn out! But that's okay, we still had fun!

Then we came back home and got a few things together and headed up to NOVA to celebrate Ruth's birthday!! And what a nice trip it was! It is always great to get to see family and it's even more fun when we can get together for a family dinner to celebrate a birthday! We are so happy for Ruth, because not only did she celebrate a birthday last week, but she also was offered a job! It was good to see everyone and catch up on how life is going!

I know Emily enjoyed herself too, until she got too tired. She LOVES seeing her cousins and getting all of that extra attention and they love her too! It is so sweet to watch them interact! We get to go back to NOVA in just a couple of weeks and it will be a longer visit, so that will be nice too! Even though Emily is not a big fan of her car seat these days, I am glad that we are able to make these trips! We always have great memories and cute pictures and it is fun to watch Emily grow and interact with her cousins too!

Here are a few pictures from our whirlwind trip. Enjoy!!

All wrapped up! Micah loves her defiant look!

Daddy is on the couch with Emily, who is getting tons of love from Abigail (who is hugging her) and Hannah!

Abigail is such a good cousin to Emily, she always wants to take care of her when she gets sad!

Hannah is a fun cousin too! And she LOVES babies!

Daddy and Emily being silly....and cute!

Emily and I getting our picture taken while Uncle Jacob is thinking about his next shot!

Lydia, Hannah, Joseph and Abigail all getting ready to eat a yummy Quiche that Uncle Matt and Aunt Ruth prepared for the birthday celebration!

Emily was so hungry, she was trying to eat the plate...and doing a pretty good job of it! Good thing she doesn't have teeth quite yet:)

The Birthday Girl opening up her gifts!

Posing for another photo with some of my adorable nieces (Hannah and Abigail) although Emily was past photo time at this point of the evening!

It's Official.....Emily has become a Thumb Sucker!

When Emily was first born one of the first things we noticed was that she seemed to enjoy sucking her thumb!

But by about day 2 of her life she didn't do it much any more, only once in a while. So Micah and I thought it might be an easy habit to break. And we were doing pretty good for a few months. But then one morning about a month ago I went in to check on her (because she was sleeping so late) and this is what I found.....

So, Micah and I discussed it a little more and decided we would still do our best to help distract her from her thumb....we even bought a pacifier (which she does NOT enjoy, by the way!). She is such a cutie, she tries to be so quiet and discreet when she sucks her thumb, but when she is really tired or upset (which usually go hand in hand) she gets really loud and it truly sounds like she is going to suck her whole hand down her throat!

We had her in her excersaucer...which she LOVES (Thanks Jessie D.).....one evening while we were doing a little cleaning up in the kitchen and I was just talking to her and all of a sudden she was really quiet and I looked down to check her out and this is what I saw.....

And since then she has pretty much been consistently sucking her thumb. She doesn't do it all day, usually when she is hungry or sleepy and sometimes when she is mad. But Micah and I talked about it again and decided that we are not going to promote her thumb sucking habit, but if she feels she needs to suck her thumb then we are going to let her. I know it is a habit that may be hard to break in the future, but right now it is too much for me to handle, to continue taking her thumb out when it seems to give her so much comfort. Every baby has to have a "security blanket" and if her thumb is hers, then so be it.

These next few pictures were taken a few days ago of our little thumb sucker....she looks so peaceful and content.

Emily has been SLEEPING lately at night. She will go to bed around 8:30pm (although sometimes she doesn't fall asleep until 9) and sleeping until anywhere between 7 and 10:30am the next morning! What a champ! This was one of the first mornings that she had slept that long....I wonder why?

This was taken on Tuesday at Mommers and Dooders' house. I had put her in her stroller to try to get her to take her nap, but the constant strolling didn't put her to sleep, no, not until she found her new best friend....her thumb!

Here's a close-up. I thought she looked so adorable in her sun hat that day!

And here is a video

Emily Eats Solid Foods!!

When we went to Emily's 4 month check-up last week the doctor talked to us about starting to introduce Emily to solid foods. She said that she thought she was ready....and boy was she right about that! Micah and I waited a few days until we felt that we had some time to devote to it. We planned for Saturday because he would be off work and could be there for the special moment! We had the camera ready; however, since we are new at this whole thing it was definitely BAD TIMING on our part. We stopped by the store on the way home and that put us way later than we had planned to get home. When we got here and mixed the rice cereal and sat her in her chair she was SO HUNGRY that she was just beside herself. I will have to admit that it was pretty funny too. Apparently I wasn't quick enough, so she felt that she needed to help me out and then apparently that wasn't quick enough either. So, needless to say our pictures and video from Saturday (Day 1) were not great. The pictures and the video below are from Days 2 and 3, which were much better because we timed it better (we are now trying about an hour after her previous feeding, which seems to be working well for now). She is getting so much better at eating. She loves her spoon. And she thought she was in heaven last night when we gave her carrots! Time flies so fast, I can't believe she is already big enough to eat something other than milk!!! She is such a great little baby and we are so happy to have her as a part of our family! She makes us laugh every day, and it is great to watch her make new discoveries all of the time!!! Parenthood is work, but so worth every effort! Enjoy the pictures and the video of Emily's favorite new pass-time....Eating cereal and baby food!

Thinking about the new taste and texture

"Here Mommy, let me help you with that!"


"Wow! Now THAT was yummy!"

Eyes following the spoon which is being held above the camera!

Our content and messy little princess, at the end of her first time trying carrots!+--

Video of Emily trying carrots for the first time.

My First Mother's Day (as a Mom!)

Today was a very special day for me (for us really!). Not only was today my first official Mother's Day as a mom it was also the one year mark of when we found out that we were expecting our first baby! What a happy day! It was so hard for me to believe that last year at this time Emily had just begun to grow inside of my tummy and today she is a 4 1/2 month old beautiful baby girl, full of life, laughs, and lots of love! Being a mom is hard work, but the fun times make every crying spell, sleepless night, sickness, and everything else so worth it! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father chose this time in my life to let me joy in being a mommy! I LOVE my job! Emily is such an amazing little girl and somehow I seem to grow more and more in love with her each and every day! Motherhood is truly one of Heavenly Father's greatest gifts that He has blessed me with! Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women out there! Each and every one of you are amazing in your own special way! Thank you for blessing our lives!

Here are some fun pictures from today.....

This Mommy just can't give her little princess enough kisses! I love those sweet little cheeks!

The Most Amazing Mother's Day Gift (and Micah took all of the pictures by himself...with Emily's cooperation, of course)! Micah and Emily worked hard to put this together for me. Micah was so excited to give it to me that he couldn't wait for today (so I got to have it yesterday!) What a sweet husband and daughter I have!
Emily always loves to visit with her Mema!! We are so glad we got to see her today too!

And of course, Mother's Day wouldn't be complete without seeing Mommers!!


You know we like any excuse to get a family photo shoot together!! Emily sure loves her Mommers and Dooders!

3 Generations....Happy to be together again!

I sure love being a Mommy!

Our Springtime Family Photo!

Gotta love self-timers! That way you can have these fun moments to get everyone together in 10 seconds or less! And the miracle was that everyone was looking at the camera!!

From Micah: I just want to add that Holly is such a great mom to Emily. She sings to her when she wakes up in the morning and when she is sad. She reads her books, does baby yoga, feeds her, changes her, and dresses her up in cute little outfits. And most of all, she cuddles her and kisses her and makes her feel loved. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful wife to be the mother of our precious child and future children.

A Fun Night for photos!

On Monday night we went to visit with my dad and Jeannie! We had such a fun night spending time together with them! The food was yummy, and the company was so much fun! It is always nice to have a chance to talk and get caught up on life! Visits are so much better for that than phone calls, sometimes. It was extra special because Jessie and Avery (my sister and my niece) and also Tucker (my brother) came by for dinner too! We don't get to see them nearly enough! Plus Emily is getting to a super fun age where she is very observant of other people and she LOVES attention! She had NO complaints being held by everyone and getting lots of love and kisses! (She's a girl after her mommy's heart, what can I say?)

Probably one of the funnest (and funniest) part of the evening was our little unplanned photo shoot after dinner. Jessie was holding Emily and Avery wanted to get closer so she laid Emily down on the couch and Avery crawled up beside her and they just played and laughed! Emily thought Avery was so cool and Avery thought it was awesome that Emily was so enthralled with her! Life is so fun with little ones around!

Love Emily's look of adoration and Avery's caring arm around Emily to keep her safe!

Time for a little more love!



Avery: "So what do you want to play?"

Emily: "I don't know, your the big kid. You give me some ideas!"

Snuggling with Grandma Jeannie. Despite Emily's crazy look, she was having a nice time! (I do think the expression is priceless though)
Checking out her uncle Tucker!
Both agree to have their picture taken!
"Ohh, I like being up here, I can see what they packed for me in my diaper bag! Thanks for lifting me up Uncle Tucker!"

Jacob and Tiffany's Wedding Day 5.2.09

After 8 years of courtship, Jacob and Tiffany finally decided to become husband and wife!! And we couldn't be happier for them!! They got married on Saturday! It was an outdoor wedding! The amazing thing about that was that it rained ALL afternoon except for about an hour, and that is exactly when the wedding and the picture taking took place! It was truly a testimony to me (once again) that Heavenly Father does have His eye on each of us. He knew that Jacob and Tiffany (especially Tiffany) wanted to be married outside overlooking the water and He allowed the rain to subside so her dream could come true!
It was a really fun afternoon and evening, we took lots of pictures and were so happy to be on the Kluge estate for this wonderful event. It was emotional (for me) to see them standing in front of each other repeating their vows. I hope their life together continues to be happier and more joyful with each new day, with each new adventure.
Here are a few pictures from the wedding and reception on Saturday, Emily had a blast and then kept us up ALL NIGHT Saturday night as she has started teething:)

The Handsome Cameraman getting ready to film!

The bridesmaids and the Matron of Honor

The Best Men and the Groom (Jacob is farthest on the left)

Someone once told me that the best picture to take at a wedding is the one of the groom as he sees the bride in all her wedding-day beauty for the first time....here is Jacob's moment!

The beautiful bride and her dad walking down the aisle!

The Post-Wedding Photo Shoot ~ What a Fun Couple!

So excited that their family has finally begun!

Another Fun Photo!

As this picture shows, it was not a good afternoon for my hair, but Micah and Emily were as beautiful and handsome as ever! I love my little family so much!

Emily LOVES kisses, especially when they come from Dooders!

Emily enjoyed snuggling with her Aunt Ellie at the reception!

Emily and her cousin, Eliza, all snugly on Grandma's lap!

Emily enjoyed some time on the dance floor with Dooders too!

Time to Cut the Cake! Mom made Jacob and Tiffany's wedding cake, and it was beautiful! They were so gentle feeding cake to each other (they even used forks!).

What a Happy Couple on such a Happy Day! We wish you all the best for your future together! We love you both!

Our Cute 4 Month Old Little Girl!

Emily turned 4 months old on April 29, 2009! In honor of the occasion we had another family photo shoot! Life is so fun with little ones!! Emily is getting so big, it's hard to believe. She is such a joyful little girl!
Micah and I were talking about new things she has done as a 4-month-old, and we decided that her main thing was that she began to "talk" a little more. She has definitely discovered how to make sound come out of her little body and it is so fun to listen too! This month she also got to have her first play date with multiple babies and got to try her swim suit on for the first time (both of which have been blogged previously).
Emily LOVES to read books and take her baby vitamins too! And she is still sleeping through the night like a champ (she usually goes down around 8:30 and doesn't wake up until anywhere between 7:30 and 9:30 the next morning. We love her so much and are grateful each day that Heavenly Father chose to send her to our family!
Here are a few pictures from our 4-month photo shoot ~ our family shots didn't turn out too well this month, hopefully next month they will be better!

Our little Sweet "P" as cute as ever!

Daddy loves his little Princess!
Mommy Loves to Cuddle her little angel too!

Trying a Shot on the Papasan!

One of our family shots!