The Butterfly Garden

They like the pond the best..go figure

I really enjoyed watching the butterflies! The girls were okay with it as long as they didnt land on them! Actually, Emily just wanted pennies to keep throwing in the goldfish pond and really didnt pay to much attention to them! Very pretty set-up!

Made it to the Zoo to "Meet" the Cheetahs!

Trying to see the Polar Bear from Matthew's shoulders

Help SHARK!!!! LOL

Emily & Kalie

It was another beautiful day in Indy and I have my niece Makenzie staying with us for a few days, so off to the Zoo we go! I have been wanting to go see the Cheetahs since they have arrived and go into the Gardens to look at all of the beautiful butterflies. We made those things our first priorities since the zoo was packed! Matthew & Liz had the day off and came out to meet up with us and so did my cousin Jolie, Kalie, and 2 of her babysitting kiddos. Great afternoon! Everyone rode the carousel and the roller coaster except Emily. She chickened out in line! LOL

Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream

The Big Ugly

She actually went for the Superman instead of mint chocolate chip

Matthew and Liz were going to Bub's Burgers & Ice cream for dinner to sit out on the patio on one of the best Summer evenings that we have had lately. They had also invited us to tag along knowing we had never ate there. So...we did and really enjoyed watching Matthew go for another Big Ugly. He had his picture previous times on the wall but this time he decided to leave some and not be nauseous the rest of their datenight! LOL

Emily's 4 Year "Well Check"

This morning we had Emily's 4 year well-check. Everything was great from nose, throat, lungs (no wheezing) , heart.....but the right ear has the tube pushing out. As a matter of fact she wasn't really sure that any of it was sitting in the ear canal in a helpful position for ear infections :( Hopefully, we don't start having issues again! I know I should feel very fortunate because these tubes lasted 2 years and 3 weeks. If that wasn't enough to throw me a little...I had no idea she was going to need shots. I am not sure why I didnt think of that because we haven't had any for awhile and that did not go over well with Emily. It took Daddy to hold her legs, Mommy her head, a nurse held her arms around me, and another nurse to do the shots. Geesh....sure glad we don't need anymore for a year (well...except the flu shot)!

Emily was .....30 1/2 pounds = 12th percentile

38 inches = 15th percentile

Dr. Leedy said those stats are excellent for her growing curve and are actually a little above last time. But...yes folks she may be short like her Momma! LOL

Firetruck Fun

Too cool!

On our way out of the Farmer's Market today, we noticed that the fireman were letting the little ones take turn and sit in the firetrucks. I really didnt figure that Emily would go for that...but she did! What a cool thing to get to do :)

Bye..Bye ..Binky :(

Actually I am kind of embarrassed to write this blog entry. Emily has still had her binky in her bed for night time and naptime. ONLY in her bed is she aloud to have it. We don't take it to school or take it to friends or even have it anywhere else in the house... but it is WAY overdue for it to go. The problem is that she absolutely loves it as much as she still loves her pooh lovey. It is almost like they go hand in hand together. I guess the truth is that I really didn't want to fight this battle with her and lots of people told me that she would just give it up on her own. Well sorry folks that is NOT the case for all kids because she was still no where near wanting to do this. So finally as her teeth are paying the price of this addiction, we had to say enough was enough and call it quits. We put a date on the calendar when I knew the household would be "normal" for that week. Meaning parties and holidays over for awhile or atleast a week :) and prepped her for it for several weeks. It was sad when the evening came. She was pretty much using the same purple binky for the last year but there were an extra 11 in the drawer. So we gathered them all up and she kissed them all before putting them in a ziplock bag and pronounced how much she loved them....and off we put them in the closet and climbed into bed. She wants to keep them at the top of her closet in case she wants to look at them.

We were pleasantly surprised that we only had one rough hour ( she needs it, I cant sleep, please Mommy I will give it up at Christmas, etc) and then she awoke a few times forgetfully looking around her bed for it but pretty much slept thru the night. I think we will be okay! First night down ..all uphill from now! Another milestone passed to prove to me that I no longer have a baby anymore..kind of sad folks especially since I know for us there will be no more :(

Happy 4th Birthday Babygirl!!

Even though it was almost 10:00 when we returned home from my Brothers...we still had a special birthday treat for Emily. We were all WAY over cake since we had been eating it for practically a week but I thought we should still do some kind of special treat with singing on her real birthday. I surprised her with a Baskin & Robbins clown cone with her favorite flavor (mint chocolate chip). Yes....she ate most all of it and then headed for a bath...Another late night, but fun night! Happy 4th Birthday Emily Sara! We Love you more than you could ever imagine!

p.s. Note to self...this was a mess after she was done!!! Kind of hard to hold a cone that has icing all over it!

Happy Father's Day

Emily & Daddy

Emily & Papaw Jeff

My brother Jason & Noah

My brother Jason & Luke

Me & My Dad

My brother Ryan

HAPPY FATHER"S DAY to all of the great men and awesome Father's in my life.....My Dad Mike, My step-dad Jeff, My hubby Mike, and My brothers Jason & Ryan. You guys are totally awesome Dad's! Keep Up the Good Work :) Love ya!

Father's Day Celebration #2

Clowning Around...

Emily snuggling with Aunt Nikki

Emily & Sophia plaing ping pong

I think we have a tired little girl on our hands

So after naptime..we headed over to my brother Ryan's for dinner. As always the kids and adults had a great time and Brandi never disappoints on food. They had an awesome spread of lasagna, broccoli fettuccine, salad, bread, robert redford dessert (TO DIE FOR), etc....Thanks a bunch for hosting a great celebration!

Birthday Brunch @ Bub's Cafe'

All Emily talked about for weeks was wanting to go on her Birthday and Father's Day weekend to Bub's Cafe' with her Dad. He has never been there and she wanted to show him her favorite chocolate chip pancake. So we called ahead seating and Mamaw & Papaw even rode over on the Harley and meet us for brunch. Unfortunately, they were so busy that call ahead still didn't help us avoid an hour wait outside :( But..as usual the food was awesome and helped us forget the waiting time after we were in! The funny thing to this story.....once inside, Emily ordered a grilled cheese! She totally changed her mind and Daddy still didn't get to see her pancake! LOL He did enjoy a few donut holes with her though!

Emily's "Real" Birthday morning..shared with Daddy on Father's Day

Daddy's new Eco bird feeder to replace our rotted wood one

Helping Daddy open his Fathers Day gifts

"Dad's Popcorn Bowl" is what it reads with all the fixins inside

Daddy had told Emily before she went to bed lastnight that he had saved a special surprise gift for her for her "real" birthday. She of course did not forget that when she woke up this morning. She didn't want breakfast only to see her gift. So.....he lead out back at 9:00 a.m. to her already set-up gift (Pirate Ship Water table). They played out there for over an hour, watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the porch, opened Daddy's gifts, and he even got to have coffee and read the newspaper outside while she played. I think they had an awesome morning!