These are a few of my favorite things...

I love reading about everyone's favorite things on blogs, so I decided to share a list of my 10 favorite things of the moment. I'd love to hear about yours!

1. Wee Squeak Shoes: Emma loves them because they squeak when she walks, and I love them because the squeaker comes out when I want it to! They are reasonably priced, super cute, and supportive. Check them out at http://www.wesqueak.net/.
2. Kid Puzzles.com: They have a variety of really cute personalized (and non-personalized) handmade puzzles. Emma has the farm one below, and we play with it every day. She knows where all of the animals go, and even knows how to spell her name! http://www.kidpuzzles.com/

3. Monaco Pictures: This place has revolutionized my movie-wathcing! Since it came to Huntsville last year, I've become a movie theatre snob!! Brian and I like their Prive section which is 21 and over with recliner seating, made-to-order food, and cocktails. You even get to choose your own seats. I only wish we could get there more often!

4. Ann Taylor Loft: I love their clothes. They are cute and affordable, AND they come in petites! Best of all they have the Loft loves Teachers program, so I never have to pay full price for my clothes.

5. I See Me books: Emma has My Very Own Fairy Tale and My Very Own Name. The books spell out their names and mention their birthday in the story. Emma loves reading about herself! http://www.iseeme.com/

6. Gymboree: Need I say anymore! I love this place and have spent an overwhelming amount of money there in the past two years. They have cute, affordable, durable clothes. They are perfect for playwear! AND they have the best sales!!

7. Car DVD players: I always said I'd never let my child watch DVDs in the car UNTIL I had a child :) Our car DVD player has allowed us to take many road trips in perfect peace...as long as you can stomach the sound of Dora! Without it, we may never be able to leave the house!

8. Crystal Light on the Go: This is the only way I can get my 8 glasses of water a day. I'm not naturally a "water lover", so this helps me gulp it down. My favorite flavor is Raspberry Lemonade.

9. Seda Candles: These are the BEST candles. A little pricey, but well worth it. Burn it for an hour or two and your house smells great for days! My favorite scent is Japanese Quince.

10. Bridge Street Towne Centre: Our new mall in Huntsville. It's going to get me in trouble one of these days. Great shopping, great dining, and the aforementioned Monaco Theatre. They also have a fabulous Bridge Street Buddies program for kids.

Bunny Trauma

After church today, we went to eat and to the mall. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Emma to get her picture taken with the Easter Bunny like she did last year. Except this year Emma had other plans. She completely freaked out and ran from the bunny crying and screaming. I'm not one of those parents that has to have a picture at all cost, so we just gave up and went home. There's always next year, huh?

Happy Birthday, Keira!

Our dear friends and neighbors, Chris and Stephanie (Emma's best friend Taryn's parents) had their 2nd daughter on Friday. Isn't she precious? Taryn was so sweet with her. Kind of makes me want another...just not yet :) Happy Birthday, Keira Elizabeth Blume!!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!

My child LOVES Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is one of her favorite cartoons...the other two include Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer. Anyway, my mom, Mimi, took us to see Disney Playhouse Live tonight, and Emma loved it. I thought she was going to explode with excitement when Mickey Mouse first came on stage! She got to dance the Hot Dog dance which made her day, and we even took a Handy Manny doll home with us. I'm not sure who gets more excited about taking Emma places like this...Emma or me...or Mimi :) Enjoy the pictures!

Ok, so I'm a little behind...

We've been really busy lately, so I have not posted in over a week. I'll just share what we've been doing this past week through pictures.Emma is very excited about wearing her "big girl" Dora panties.

We've spent A LOT of time outside enjoying the warm weather!

Emma loves the spring flowers!

We went to Fort Payne to visit grandparents and great-grandparents. Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw had a baby donkey (born on March 16). Emma really liked that!

Isn't she cute?

Emma also LOVED feeding the chickens!

We went to the park with Mimi.

Emma had a lot of fun...especially on the choo-choo train.

Mommy & Daddy went to Cory & Danielle's wedding...Daddy was IN the wedding that is why he is wearing the pink tie and vest. Not the best picture of Mommy, but Emma looks cute :)

Oh, now here is TROUBLE...and Happy Birthday Avery!

Yesterday we went to Avery Chadwick's (Mindy & Kenny's little girl) 2nd birthday party. Emma had a blast playing with all of the kids. It was also nice to see and catch up with old friends! I think it is so funny that Brian and his two best friends from high school each had little girls in a 10 month time frame. Talk about trouble! These boys are going to have their hands full one day!!!!

Cory & Bailey (14 mo.) Hixon, Brian & Emma (20 mo.) Jones, Kenny & Avery (2 yrs.) Chadwick

What a difference one year makes! Avery Chadwick, Emma Jones, & Bailey Hixon in March'08


Emma & Daddy

Lots of kids!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Avery!

Warm weather fun...

The weather has been so nice lately...I love it! Emma and I have spent a lot of time outside trying to enjoy it before the cold returns. Here are a few pictures...

Emma & Taryn (how cute are they?)

Playing at the lake Mom, I'm busy!

Emma loves the duckies!

Emma and her best friend

Here are a few pictures of Emma and her best friend, Taryn. They are only 5 days apart in age, and they have so much FUN playing together. Taryn lives across the street, and any time Emma sees her house she wants to go over and play. They are precious together, and I am really looking forward to the warmer weather and going on our daily trips up to the pool again this summer.

A break...

Thursday, my mom came over and picked up Emma for her to stay a couple of days in Fort Payne. Brian and I hadn’t had a real date since our anniversary in December. Even though we missed the Emster, we had fun for a couple of nights being Kelly and Brian instead of Mommy and Daddy. Friday night, we went shopping, ate at Conner’s Steakhouse…yummy…and watched Taken. (After that movie, I’ll never let Emma go on vacation without us!) It was fun getting all “pretty-ed” up for my husband and spending a night out on the town. Nights like those are so good for us. We were like teenagers all over again! And, of course, Emma loved being spoiled rotten by her four grandparents and four great-grandparents! She always comes home with twice as much stuff as I sent with her :)

I also wanted to share a few photos of Saturday and Sunday when I picked up Emma in FP.

Dora backpack & shades

Picking Mimi's flowers

Petting "Shebby" (Shelby)

I'm a BIG kid!

What happened to my baby? Every day brings new revelations that my baby is, well, no longer a baby.

1. Emma is potty-training right now (her choice)...and doing a very good job at it. For the past two weeks, she has only had a couple of accidents a day. Considering that she is only 19 months old, that's pretty good! Her motivating factor is getting to wear her Dora and Elmo panties that I bought her. She's getting close!

2. She stayed with Mimi and Mack for two days last week, and she loved her toddler bed there so much we decided to convert her crib to a toddler bed last night. She jumped up and down on it yelling "my bed, my bed!" I've never seen someone get so excited about a bed :)

My Handyman

Since Brian and I were married 5 years ago, we've poked fun at each other for our lack of typical roles around the house. I am no gourmet cook---if it doesn't come out of a box or a can, it is too complicated for me to make. Brian is a much better cook than I am...he begins planning his "masterpieces" for Saturday on Monday (I cook Monday through Thursday; he's in charge of Friday through Sunday). And Brian, bless his heart, was not endowed with the skills of a handyman. When it comes to fixing something, I'm the woman for the job. That has driven him crazy for 5 years, and he can't stand it when I boast to people how I fix stuff around the house. (By the way, I'm most proud of the fact that I rewired our phone lines and saved us a $100 service charge from AT&T....Sorry, Brian, I had to throw it in!) So, lately Brian has tried to prove his handy skills around the house. At Christmas he put all of the toys together...in January, he fixed the leaking shower...and Monday night he bought me an elliptical and put it together. Poor thing, it took him 4 hours to get it put together from the hundreds of pieces in which it came. He was so proud of himself when he showed me the finished product. He even wanted to demonstrate what a good job he had done.........and then CRUNCH. The elliptical foot went right through the wall. We'll see how handy he is patching the three inch hole in the wall (grin, grin). Husbands...you gotta love them.

Emma vs. Marker

Marker: 1 Emma: 0

Seriously???!!!!

My shower is my haven; it is where I can think in peace, work out my problems, let my stress melt away. I meticulously stock it with aromatic shampoos, body gels, etc. In other words, I take pride in my shower. So, you can imagine my horror when my precious little girl (doesn't she look cute in the picture?) pooped in my shower! Yes...POOPED in my shower (about 90 seconds after I took this picture). I am such a germ-a-phobe...it took every motherly molecule in me to be able to clean it up without gagging...Ok, well, maybe I gagged a little.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

We woke up Sunday morning to SNOW! We had about an inch to an inch and a half of snow. Not much by most standands, but in Alabama that is a blizzard! We got all bundled up and took Emma outside to play (she looked like the little kid off of Christmas story she had on so many layers!) At first she was upset because the snow was sticking to the bottom of her shoes. (If you know my child, you know that she cannot stand being dirty---gee, wonder where she got that trait?) After we got in a snow ball fight with Daddy, she realized that the snow is pretty fun, and we ended up dragging her inside---literally!

Daddy & Emma

Bundled up

Mom, the snow is sticking to my shoes!

Our pitiful snowman

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Last Friday night was Emma's first trip to the circus! We had front row tickets, so we were right in the middle of the action----and the smells I might add. The first 30 minutes Emma looked completely terrified. She didn't move. After she warmed up to the idea of the circus, she LOVED it! Her favorite parts were the "dawgs" and the "efalents" :) Enjoy a few pictures!