Month 18

Our little E is becoming a big girl! By big girl I mean she is just acting grown up but still in a little body! B and I can't stop talking about what a good girl she is. I'm not sure how we lucked out so much. Here is the rundown for E.

Height: 2' 6" (10%)

Weight: 20 lb 10 oz (5%)

Head: 46.5 cm (49%)

We have moved up to 12 month pants (mostly due to length and not her waist) and can wear 12-18 month shirts. She is getting enough hair on the back and lower parts of her head to make some pretty cute pigtails (see pics below).

E's vocabulary is getting much better! We were trying to list her words last night and here is what we could come up with...mama, dada, Emma, more, backpack, map (she likes Dora), teeth, juice, fish, shoes, bubbles, ball, baby, beep, trash, baa (sheep), moo (cow), neigh (horse), roar (lion), grrrr (bear), vroom (car).

She loves to read books, play with her baby doll, play pretend kitchen (stir and stir), color, watch movies, clean the house (vacuum, wipe the floor, sweep), play outside (especially climbing the playground equipment).

If you can't tell by now, we just love her!

See Ya Later...

We have HUGE news...and it's time to let the blogosphere know! Let me just give you this picture.

That's right...we're moving to S. Korea! It is amazing how quickly the word gets out so we are settling all rumors now that we have more information. We don't have all the details worked out but we know it is going to be a very quick process.

Ben works for ExxonMobil and has been assigned to the Arkutun Dagi topsides projects. He will be building the platform for offshore gas production off the coast of Sakhalin Island, Russia. The work takes place in the city of Okpo on the island of Geoje which is off the coast of Busan, S. Korea. It sounds like we'll be living in a expatriate community but aren't sure of all the details yet. We are pretty sure Ben will start work over there the first part of April. E and I will join him shortly after that once things are settled in Houston (selling the house and cars, moving things to storage, getting visas and a passport for E, etc). We will probably be there for about 2-2.5 years.

Shocked? We are too. We can't wait for all the new experiences we'll have. Of course, we'll keep the blogosphere posted as new information comes in!

2.2

It started out 4 years ago with these...

A year later we went here...

To do this...

With all of them...

And then we added her...

And became this...

Now we celebrated by going here (Harlem Globetrotters)...

And by getting this (telephoto lens)...

Happy Anniversary! Here's to capturing many more!

Growing Up

I snuck into E's room tonight to put away some things and as I glanced into her crib I thought to myself, who is the big girl in there? Seriously, she's not a baby anymore! I mean, she is 17 months now! We are only 1 month away from nursery at church...yippee! We went to the doctor today so I better note our major accomplishment...20.4 lbs. Yes, we finally crossed the 20 lb mark!

Here is a little about E (mom's bragging moment):

-She is becoming an expert at animal sounds and pointing out animals by their sounds. Her favorites are 'boo' (that is moo), 'dodo' (as in cock-a-doodle-do), 'hu,hu,hu' (with head moving forward like a dog barking), 'errr' (that would be an elephant) and 'raaar' (lion). All of the sounds and speaking is a huge accomplishment as E has been seeing a speech therapist for her delay in speech!

-She loves pointing out body parts including her (and your) eyes, ears, nose, head, teeth, chin, toes and belly.

-She is an expert waver for Hi and Bye! She also frequently says the words with the wave. She is also great at blowing kisses.

-She loves being outside! We've had fairly nice weather this winter which is great. It gets hard when it is too cold or rainy.

-She has learned that she needs to say 'more' (which sounds more like 'bore') when she wants more food. It is great because when she starts whining all you have to say is "what do you say?" and the whining stops and the words come out!

-She has a real sweet spot that has been coming out! She gives great hugs and is often found hugging dad and patting his back when he gets home from work. She gives open mouth kisses and often makes kissing sounds. She LOVES her baby. It brings tears to my eyes to see her walking around cuddling her baby and kissing her.

-She folds her arms for prayers by putting her hands on her chest (still working on getting a photo) and says 'men' at the end of the prayer. Today she kept saying 'men' during the prayer to tell dad to stop praying!

She loves to laugh! She is also one active girl which makes church a challenge. She loves to hide and play chase...or just run away from me. She has become quite good a peek-a-boo!

These are the moments that make all the struggles of growing up worth it!

Our Christmas Break in Photos

Houston Aeros Hockey Game

Newman Ranch - We met up with Ben who was hunting that morning. We mingled with the long horn, picnicked and shot the shotgun and rifle.

Blue Bell Factory - Stopped in for $1 scoops of the best ice cream!

Port of Houston Boat Tour - In the rain...after the tour Mucho Mexico for lunch.

Bowling - Mike (who is on the HS bowling team) schooled us but we all made him sweat at times.

Black Light Mini Golf

Not Pictured - movie theater (True Grit), eating, hot tub, eating, crafting, trimming bushes and raking leaves, eating, baptisms at the temple, delivering Christmas gifts, more eating, playing tennis, watching movies, playing games, sleeping in, missing Bobby Jill and Linley, and finally....even more eating.

Christmas Eve and Day

Christmas break was spent about 15 miles north at my parent's house. My sis and her new hub were here from Utah for 2 weeks so we vacationed with them. We missed my older bro and family as they were expecting their baby boy anytime (he came a few days ago!). We had a great mix of relaxation and fun. Here is a glance of our Christmas eve and day. (The rest of the vacation pics are coming...)

E opening her PJ's...super excited to tear into the paper!

It was awesome being Santa's Helper! E is such a fun age and totally got spoiled as the only little kid this year. Some of her favorites were her big pink chair, baby and stroller, little people farm and airport, safari jeep tunnel thing, marble maze, books and puzzles...just to name a few. Spoiled. B and I also were spoiled! I got several new toys for my camera and some sewing gear. B got fishing supplies and several other toys. We didn't take too many pics but here are a few.

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