Family Night at Dance Class

Ok, I'm sorry that I have had a lot of dancing post, it seems that is the only time I am cracking out the camera. It was friends and family night in the dance class tonight so we got to sit in the dance studio and watch what the kids do. It was so much fun watching them all "dance" to the music. After class they surprised the kids with Santa. Luckily Emma didn't freak out by that. Here are some videos and pictures.

In this video Emma is practicing her shuffle step.

Ballet

Practicing the Silly Rabbit Song

Big announcement

My mom wasn't expecting on finding out the sex of our baby until Jan. So we wanted to surprise her at work. My mom has been saying from the beginning that we were having a boy. So Kevin thought it would be funny to give her a card that said we were having a girl and then later give her another card that said we were having a boy. It took some convincing on my part, but we bought two separate cards announcing that we were having a girl then later gave her one that said we were actually having a boy. It was pretty funny. Here is a picture of her opening a "You having a new granddaughter card". She called Papa and told him we were having a girl and told Emma that she was having a baby sister. "Can you say Charlotte" my mom asked Emma. It was all I could do to not crack up. So we took her out to lunch and she asked me for her phone to call other family members to tell them we were having a girl, instead I handed her the other card. You should have seen her face, at first she thought we were having twins, and then she read that we tricked her and actually are having a boy. She had to call Papa back and tell him we were actually having a boy. It was pretty funny!

Is it going to be a boy or girl?

Well, I couldn't wait until January to find out the sex of our baby. So I went down to the sono department at work and had the sonographer take a peek. I had taken an envelope down with a paper that said "It's a boy/girl" and I had the sonographer circle either boy or girl. She also printed out a picture and sealed it in the envelope. That way Kevin and I could open it up together at dinner tonight instead of me telling him over the phone. After dinner tonight Kevin and I opened it up. Since I had the sonographer circle the choice with a yellow highlighter it wasn't very apparent to Kevin whether we were having a boy or girl until I explained to him what she had done. Then he said, "It says were having a boy". "What! Let me see that paper", I said as I snatched it out of his hand. Sure enough it said a boy. And the sono picture was pretty clear too! Wow, so much for trying for another girl. Wow, a boy. At least we already had a boy's name picked out, Jackson Thomas. Oh my, a boy, what are we going to do with ourselves!

Kaleb

Here are some super adorable pictures of my nephew Kaleb. I so miss them. I wished they lived closer to Dallas. Isn't he the cutest little boy!!

Fireman Santa

Every year a our city's fire station drives around with Santa on the back of their firetrucks. When we heard the trucks coming down the street Kevin grabbed Emma to go and see Santa on the truck. Of course that freaked Emma out leaving the house so quickly so she was being bashful. But Santa waved and threw out some candy that they collected. I think it is neat that our city does this! Here is a not so good picture of the firetruck with the Santa on the back that you can't see! Heheheh. =)

Play Date

Emma and I went over to have lunch and play with her friends Luke and Sarah. It is so nice to be able to go to my friends house and sit and chat with another adult while she plays.

"Hey, Sarah, what are you eating?"

Tea party

Dancing

Emma is finally getting better about following the teacher in her dance class. As you can see half of the other class hasn't quiet gotten it yet.

Christmas Lights

We went out to look at Christmas lights tonight. We found a few streets where every house was lit up, must be b/c of a homeowners association. Anyways, the weather was beautiful and it's December! Kevin and I were wearing short sleeves! I just love Christmas light, this is a tradition that I want to keep going.

Santa Picture

I took Emma to see Santa again this year. She wasn't really happy about it, but at least she sat on his lap this time. It took a lot of preparation. Any time we would go to the mall we would stop and look at Santa. Prior to taking this picture we had walked by him and seen him about 5 times. When we got there Santa was on a cookie break. So we also took a cookie break and had some yummy cookies. We also wrote Santa a wish list. Emma has been saying for a few weeks that she wanted Santa to bring her a soft purple bear. So that is what we wrote. So when we went to see Santa Emma ran up to Santa to give him her letter, luckily there was no line. He just scooped her up and put her on his lap. As you can tell she isn't really happy about it, but at least she isn't crying.

Yummy Ice Cream

I met a friend and her son for lunch today. It's nice to get out and not sit at home all week. Here they are enjoying ice cream. Doesn't Emma have the most beautiful blue eyes? I just love this picture, even with the ice cream all over her face.

Dance Class

Oh, I forgot to mention in the previous post about Emma's dance class. It's a combination class. She is learning tap, ballet, and tumbling. Here is a couple of video's with Emma doing a ballet motion (sorry I don't know the name of the movement) and learning a tumbling motion. She just loves her class! At the end of the tumbling video she comes running up to the window to ask me if she could have a sucker. She is just so cute!

Mema Horse

Mema is so much fun! She'll play all sorts of things with Emma that I won't! She makes such a great horse! Mema horse needed to stop and eat at the trough. Notice Emma's "stirrups" and how happy she is. My mom is probably going to hate that I put these pictures up, but it just shows what a great Mema Emma has!! =)

First Official Dance Class

So my mom and I bought Emma her first pair of ballet and tap shoes and tights. Luckily I already had the leotard, which I need to get a new one, I had to sew up a hole in this one, oh well, it will work for now. She looked so cute. After the class Emma told me that her "dance class was wonderful".

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with our friends this year. We drove out to Tyler and stayed for a few nights. It was nice to spend time with a big family and not have to cook or do much, especially since I am still feeling a little bit puny sometimes. Here are a few pictures with the girls all dressed in their jammies.

Family Holliday Pictures '07

Once again we went to Kiddie Kandids to get our yearly family pictures. Yeah, yeah, I know, I am married to a photographer. But do you know how hard it is to take your own family pictures with a two year old that won't sit still long and look at the camera half the time? Well, that is why we go. Kiddie Kandids are so great with Emma. I think our pictures turned out pretty good. Kevin and I even got a picture of together.

Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere... But not a drop to drink

Static Electricity

Again I took Emma to the park today since the weather has been so nice. She will finally go down the slide now, there for a while she was afraid and wouldn't go down the slide at all. When she went down the slide her hair stood up in all directions, it was quiet humorous!

Dancing?

So, my mom convinced me to check out this dance studio not to far from us. They have a toddlers class starting from age 2 that meets in the evening, right after nap time! We decided to go check it out. It was neat because you could sit outside the dance studio and watch into the class. Well, Emma was watching what was going on and she was mimicking what the teachers were doing. After a few minutes the teacher came out and let Emma attend the class! Emma started out the class doing very well, she was following what the teachers were doing. After about 15 min she started doing her own thing. At one point she was running around in circles around all the kids and teachers while all the other kids stood still so nicely. I was totally embarrassed. A couple of the other mom's said that their kids did that at first too. Needless to say Emma loved the dance class. And she learned how to do the shuffle step! Ok, now I'm sold. Mom and I signed Emma up for the class and we are splitting the fees, which aren't to bad. I guess now we need to buy her some tap and ballet shoes!

Trick or Treat

This year Emma was a butterfly for Halloween. I think I only spent about $5 on the whole costume. I bought a three pack of butterfly/angel wings at a consignment sale for $3. Then I needed to get something for antennas, that is where pipe cleaners come in handy. I already had the headband, bucket, black tights and leotard! I love saving money!

Emma totally loved going out. This year she finally got saying "Trick or Treat", although we still had to prompt her some. Of course she loved getting the candy, which we only allowed her a few pieces afterwards. One of our neighbors had a really scary house and she wouldn't go up to it, she cried and clung to our necks every time we even suggested going to the door. Luckily the neighbor came out to her on the sidewalk. It was fun, I love Halloween!
Kevin and I being silly while we were out. I'm sure he'll hate this picture being up on the blog, but I don't care, I think it's cute!

Beautiful Weather

The weather lately has been fantastic!!! I've been trying to get out during the day to the park and let Emma play especially since I feel worse in the evenings. Luckily Kevin is home in the evenings to help with dinner and bedtime routines. Emma just loves to swing! I just think she looks so cute in pigtails too!

Tyler

Emma and I drove out to Tyler to see Laura and Maddy (Anna and John too!) for a few days. At this point I'm starting to not feel so well, so it was nice to go and sit and have someone else cook for me and help take care of Emma. Sure makes me realize how much I miss them though.