18 months

On February 3rd, Emma turned 18 months old! I can't believe this means that she is now closer to 2 than she is to 1. I am loving this age right now, but I can't neglect the fact that I am a little sad that she is no longer a "baby" and is in full toddler mode now. She is so sweet and learning new things every day and she really keeps me on my toes. Here are some of her 18 month stats:
We will find out height and weight and her appointment next week, but I'm fairly certain she is still tall and skinny for her age, haha!
She can repeat almost any word we say, but some of her most recent favorite words to say are:
oh boy!
oh wow!
baby doll (no longer just baby)
animal names (she used to only say the animal sounds, but now she can say the name of the animal and its sound)
the numbers 3 and 5 are her favorites, haha
A,B,D, and P are the letters she likes to say
She can name most of the monsters on Sesame Street - we have lots of SS books, and she gets to watch Elmo's World most days
Are you? When she is looking for something she asks this. A recent example was when Aaron slipped some string cheese out of her hand and when she saw it wasn't there she looked all around saying, "Cheese...are you?" haha
She has started learning names well - she can tell you the names of about 10 people from church without prompting

It is so fun to be able to teach her things now that stick with her - she is a little sponge for sure.

Some of her favorite foods right now:
apples
blueberries
string cheese
pizza
mac and cheese
muffins
green beans
tomatoes
ice cream
In other news: Emma climbed out of her crib for the first time last week. The downside of having a baby that is a climber and a light-weight is that they can pull themselves over the top of their crib! This happened at 1:30 in the morning last week because she has been teething and woke up in the night because her teeth were bothering her. She is now sleeping in her pack-n-play until we can get the rail that converts her crib into a toddler bed.

Happy Anniversary!

January 12th marked our 4 year anniversary. In a way I can't believe that it has already been 4 years, but in some ways it seems as if 4 years has flown by. I am so grateful to the Lord for Aaron and the wonderful husband and father that he is. I am so thankful for the provider he is for our family. I am thankful for the way he loves our daughter and enjoys spending special time with her. I love to hear him rocking and singing to her at bedtime. I am grateful that he puts our interests above his own. I am most of all thankful for his love of the Lord and the way he loves his family!

Christmas Card photo...

Thanks to our friend Brian Fleming at BrianFlemingPhotography.com we have some great photos to choose from for our Christmas card this year, but I am thinking this may be the winner!

In other news:
-Emma is growing faster than ever it seems at times. She is so sweet and girly, but also so independent and silly. Her personality is really showing itself more and more and also her sinful heart, haha. She is starting to realize that she doesn't want to share as much as she used to, but also giving away kisses so freely that it melts this momma's heart. This age (16 months) presents many new parenting challenges (ie: power struggles, more discipline, etc.), but so many new fun adventures as well! I am so thankful for my sweet girl and the reminder of God's grace that she is in my life.
-We have had a really tough month and suffered loss, but God has been so good to us and we are grateful for the never-ending reminders of His grace in our lives.

To be continued...

I have a lot to catch up on...
But, for now, here is a quick pic of Emma at the State Fair from last weekend. We went with the Smiths and Emma and Cooper had a blast looking at all of the animals! This was one of my favorite moments of the day - we found some folk/bluegrass band concert behind the Village of Yesteryear (?) and since there was a little grassy area we let Emma run around for a little while. She started dancing (i wish we caught it on video - too cute!) and entertaining everyone around.

Under the weather

All three Swains have been under the weather at some point these last three weeks, and not to mention the fact that the memory card in my camera is no longer working, so my attempts at blogging regularly were (temporarily) thrown off. I am so thankful that my mom could come visit last weekend (she only lives about 3 hours away) because Emma and Aaron had both started feeling really bad and she was able to help with housework and keep Emma for a while so we could just get out of the house. What a blessing!

On another note...
Friday marked the beginning of my favorite season of the year - Fall!
Here is a short list of things that i love about this time of the year:
10. Pumpkin Spice Lattes
9. Enjoying the fact that no one can see how pale my legs are for several months
8. Fall decorations
7. Wearing boots
6. Upcoming trip to the pumpkin patch (Emma's first!)
5. Upcoming trip to the Corn Maze (with the youth)
4. Sweaters
3. Celebrations (so many birthdays and holidays)
2. Fall smelling candles (pumpkin, cider, etc.)
1. Being outside without sweating

Hopefully the camera will be fixed soon and I can put up some pics of what Emma has been up to recently!

Favorite Blogs

Today at Kelly's Korner her "Show us your life" link up is about favorite blogs. Usually after Emma is in bed at night I like to sit down and read a few blogs. I have many that i love to read, especially my "real life" friends, but these are just a few that I never miss!

1. GirlTalk
I love reading the blog and articles that the Mahaney girls write about biblical womanhood. They are very encouraging and honest in their writing and have great resources too.

2. Big Mama and Boo Mama
These ladies are hilarious and I really enjoy reading their posts about their day to day lives. I have laughed so hard that I cried many times reading their blogs.

3. For decoration, diy ideas, etc. I love to check out tatertots and jello.
I just recently found this website but I love the step by step diys and the dollar store redos.

4. The Pioneer Woman will always be one of my favorites (if you can even call her website a blog anymore). She is so popular now and even has a show on the Food Network. I have loved keeping up with her blog for a while now. She has GREAT recipes and funny stories and I would absolutely recommend checking out her site.

Happy Weekend!

Walking!

Since her birthday party Emma has been taking steps here and there but in the last 2 weeks or so she has really taken off and almost given up crawling all together! Our camera is acting up, but I hope to put up a video soon!
Happy Friday!