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!