Emmy Paige is NINE months old!

This has been one of my favorite months with our little one because I have been able to spend everyday, all day with her! Like I say every month...I can't believe she is already nine months old. Time seems to be racing by, we wish it would slow down just a tad for our sake.  But, we try to savor every moment and memory!

Here is what this month looked like for Emerson: 

She is all about opening drawers, pulling cords, chewing on shoes, getting into the fireplace...there has been quite a bit of baby proofing going on at our house this month.

ALL over the place!

She loves to clap, Mrs. Lori calls it her golf clap.  She puts her hands together but it doesn't make any noise! Still very cute, she does it when she gets excited.

Nathan started putting his hand over her mouth and she would make a noise, she loved playing that game but she started wanting to do it herself so she began to turn her arm around and wave as she did it.  Quite strange, but really funny! One day I will learn how to put videos on here (if any of you have tips on how to do that, I would love the help) and I will post it.

Silly girl!

She watched a TON of soccer this month.  We watched USA's final match of the World Cup yesterday.  She loved it! Until we scored and everyone scared her when we all starting screaming.  Whoops! :/

She celebrated Nathan on Father's Day. She loves her Daddy! She sat in church with us that morning and she did great..except she kept talking and laughing! 

One of their first pictures together. So sweet!

Happy first Father's Day to our favorite Dad!

She figured out how to drink out of a straw!

She has started saying mamamamama...but won't stick to Mama yet.  Getting close! (Can you tell I'm ready for that?)

She weighs approximately 21 pounds. My back hurts if I have to carry her around too much. She is getting to be a big girl!

She had her first pool/swim experience at my friend Stacy's house. While all of the adults freaked out because we thought the water was too cold, she took it like a champ! She loved it and was kicking her legs and splashing around with her arms.  She likes her float but also enjoys swimming around with us.  

I got a jogging stroller this month, and while I haven't mastered taking her on my longer runs she occasionally joins me for my warm ups.  She loves it so much that she gets upset with me when I have to take her out of it.  It's so cute because I can hear her jabbering away while we're going down the street.  

I had a little scare about 3 weeks ago when she suddenly broke out with a rash all over her body.  It even made her eyes swell up! Scary! We took her to the doctor and they told us it was just a viral rash.  They gave us an ointment for it and it went away within the week.  Thank goodness! She looked pitiful.  

Poor baby :(

We celebrated my birthday!

Family :)

Friends for so many years! Love them!

That's me on the left. I see a little of Emerson! 

I love that picture of Emmy with Sydne.  Pretty smile! 

Passed out at Babe's.  Don't worry, she woke up when the food came out!  

She made this my favorite birthday :)

She got to take another trip to College Station.  Even though it was a short trip it was fun to see our friends and Aunt Bug!

And here are a few more of my favorite pictures from this month :)

Happy 9 months Emerson! Along with the new challenges each month brings, it brings blessings beyond what we could imagine! We love you to the moon and back.

Proof she carries her toys like Tucker :)

School's out for SUMMER!

My first year of teaching came to an end last Friday.  I was talking to one of my teacher friends about how quickly the year flew by...and then I was reminded that I was gone for 10 weeks. (What in the world will I do next year?! Lol)

My mom was very wise (or realistic) when I told her I was pregnant and she suggested I wait a year to jump into teaching.  I continued my job search despite her advice...and shocked myself when I actually ended up getting a position at Camey.

As a result, this year was the hardest, but most rewarding year of my life--hands down.

I have never been so exhausted.  Half the time I could barely keep my eyes open when I was giving Emerson her bedtime bottle--at 8:00.  Lol

The exhaustion from waking up at 5:30, going to school, working all day, working out after school, driving to pick up Emerson, driving home, playing with Emerson, packing our bags/lunches for the next day, Emmy's bedtime routine, and then passing out--until the next morning when it all starts all over again was almost too much to handle at times.

Without the support of my friends at school, our parents, Lori, and Kendall, and of course, Nathan, I don't know that I would have survived!

I spent the last few weeks of school really missing Emerson during the day, and I am SO thankful that I get the summer with her.  I love being home in the mornings so I can see her smiley face when she wakes up! That has probably been my favorite part of this first week of summer, that annnnnd getting to take naps :)  Honestly, I think my body is still recovering from being so worn out.

Needless to say, I am very grateful for summer break.  I'm ready to cleanse my pallet and start anew next year, after all, isn't that what breaks are for?

I'll miss this bunch! 

Playing games on the last day :)

Starting our summer off right! Let nap time commence :)

I would just like to say thank you to those who prayed for me this year, you all are the reason I'm still standing.  God definitely tested me this year, but he brought me through it and I'm stronger because of it!