Summer Adventures!

I seriously love summer. I get to stay up late and have some quiet "mommy time." I can sleep in (if Emma lets me). I have even been able to read a little bit! Pinterest is giving me all sorts of fun stuff to do with Emma. My shopping list grows each time I log on--paint, shaving cream, sidewalk chalk, window markers, etc... We have used her kiddie pool on a daily basis lately. In fact, she jumped in, clothes and all, just after getting out of bed at 9am! We played outside until about noon, then went in for lunch and a nap. Every day is an adventure with her for sure!

Our summer continues to be busy, and I'm trying to find a nice balance to it all. (My recent FB post shows my struggles with saying "No" lately.) It's tough, and Mike is working a ton of overtime. We're trying to make it work, and I'm trying to figure out what things are most important. I'm struggling with that quite a bit. In my head I know Mike is doing it for us; he's thinking of the family and trying to help my stress level regarding money and such. In my heart, I see all that he's missing. It's a tough road, but we're trying our best.

On the bright note, we made it through our road trip to Pennsylvania, and we had a great time! We saw the Flight 93 Memorial and visited the Pittsburgh Zoo. Emma was a gem in the car even though it was about 10-11 hours both ways. The DVD player was a smart purchase! It's currently packed away for our next long trip, which is coming up soon!

Her latest accomplishments:

**She can climb up on our bed by putting her foot on the side rail. Boy was that a surprise when I went in our room the other day!

**She can climb the ladder on her small play structure, and she can get herself into a sitting position to go down the slide.

**She's learning how to go down the stairs on our deck backwards. Honestly, stairs scare the crap out of me!

**She has found a love of watermelon and blueberries!

**She has figured out that her finger can go up her nose.

**She has figured out that her finger can go up MY nose!

**She can now say bunny, duck, help me (more like hpme), banana, hungry (ungy), potty, and lots more! Mostly she just repeats them, though a few are said on a regular basis.

The day is never dull with Miss Emma around, and I am so thankful for that!

So Much to Say.....So Little time!

Has it really been over two  months since my last blog posting? I say this as Emma is trying to stand on my Stampin' Up case, so she can see out the window. Oh wait...now she's trying to stand on the 2 inch window sill! Our little peanut is such a busy girl! It doesn't help that she seems to lack fear--completely! I'll try to keep this update as short as possible:

• Emma is now 14 months old. She's growing like a weed, which shows when she eats like a farmer! She's running around like crazy and starting to climb onto everything too. She can say quite a few words, though "puppy" is a favorite. She seems to understand so much, which is fun and scary at the same time! I love to see her explore and learn, but it also means she's growing up quickly. 
• She has such personality! Emma is definitely our little ham. She will do such goofy things just to get a laugh from us or herself! She is also very determined. According to our daycare provider, she "has quite a grip!" I think this will suit her well if she decides to play sports, piano, etc... :) However, it's difficult to get things away from her when she doesn't want to let go! This usually ends in her sinking to the floor and "growling." It's funny, but we try not to let her see us laugh. 
• Our summer is pretty much full already, but we're looking forward to time with family and friends. Emma is going to daycare one day every week, so I'm hoping I can use my time productively! I also hope to do lots of fun things during the week--the library, the beach, museums, zoo, etc... I have big plans, but I like the idea of sitting in our backyard with Emma's kiddie pool too!
• I got my e-mail confirmation that I'm still going to be teaching 1st grade in the fall, so that was a relief! I want to spend a lot of time looking at curriculum this summer, as the new core curriculum standards are quite impressive. 
• I want to start looking into adopting again, but I'm not sure I can get Mike on board. He wants to adopt an older child, but we haven't really talked about what that might look like. I really want to adopt an infant again, so we'll see what happens. I feel strongly about giving Emma a sibling, but it might just not be in the cards. 
• It's hard to believe, but Mike and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary in the fall! Friends of ours are going on a cruise for theirs and want us to go, but I don't think we can. I would love to start planning a weekend getaway for us that won't cost too much but will let us spend some time with just the two of us. Things have been stressful at times lately, and I realized that we don't go on dates or anything anymore. We definitely need to get out! So....if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them! It's in October, so the colors should be pretty. 

Anyway, Emma is ready for her nap, so my few minutes to blogging must end. Happy Saturday everyone!