Here's a picture of the current progress on our newest and biggest project! Greg has actually done some work since this was taken, but you get the general idea, right?? :)

Just realized I had old pictures that didn't get posted! Here's an update:

Emma gets a huge kick out of helping to feed the animals- sometimes she makes a little mess but the animals don't seem to mind picking it up!

Out collecting eggs from the "bock-bock's"
One of Emma's favorite outdoor activities- using the watering can!
Snuggling with Mimi on a recent visit
"Shopping" at Natural Bridge on our way up to NOVA to visit- Emma found the toy section of the store and had a lot of fun playing with the display items
Hanging out at Abuelita and Grandpa Saz's house- lots of shady grass to walk around in, and tons of pretty flowers!
A great lunch visit with nearly everyone over at Nana and Tutz's house
Meeting Emma's cousin Addison-
Having fun with cousin Natalie-
Playing piano with Abuelita
Checking out the funny little man- she was fascinated by his moving arms!

Daddy's cell phone ring tone is "Super Freak," and every time his phone rings, Emma loves to dance to the music! She was being super goofy running around and dancing with this pink bucket on her head, while Mommy hummed the same song- for once we were fast enough to catch it on video!

next appointment

Ok, so everyone knows, our next appointment with Dr. Berry (the new pediatrician) as well as the appointment with the ear/nose/throat doctor, Dr. Prussin, will be on May 20. Dr. Prussin also happens to be the same doctor who took Greg's thyroid gland out- he was always happy with his experience with Dr. Prussin, hopefully things will go well!

Mommy and Emma had a busy day today, cleaned the whole house, top to bottom, and did all the laundry. Emma is such a good helper- she found one of her many sponges, and then proceeded to shake water out of her sippy cup so that she could wipe it up with her sponge. It was so cute! She was a big helper with the laundry too! She was not impressed at all with the beef barbeque Mommy had for dinner, although Mommy was in heaven with it! :)

Pediatrician appointment

All went well with the pediatrician this morning- he was fairly pleased with Emma's progress since her last regular visit and felt like everything is pretty normal. Still no clear answer for why Emma is so tiny and why she hasn't yet caught up on the growth curve for weight, but he assured us there was no reason to think anything is wrong with her endocrine system. Digestive system seems to check out normal as well, going by history and what we can report... We did have to go in for a CBC, and will have the results tomorrow. She weighed in at 18lbs 1oz, 31 inches long, and 18in head circumference. The Doctor was really nice, took a long time talking to us, asking questions, taking notes, checking Emma over. He is referring us to an ear/nose/throat doctor to investigate Emma's occasional "raspy" breathing. We got it on video this morning when she was being especially raspy, and he felt like it warranted some investigation. We'll probably get seen within the next several weeks- again, hope we just get reassured that it's just "Emma."

Oh, yeah, and Emma's two upper canine teeth are popping their little tips through!

Dinner success!!!

Mommy got inspired tonight and made baked chicken nuggets (small ones, like at Chick-fil-A), and a homemade sweet and sour sauce... Emma actually ate them! She had her own little bay of dipping sauce on her plate, and she dipped a piece and ate it herself several times! She also chowed down on the sweet potato oven fries. We were so thrilled not only to see her interest in eating this stuff, but her willingness to feed herself about half the meal before she was ready to run off! Mommy and Daddy approved of the meal as well... :)

Ok, today was supposed to be our visit with the new pediatrician, but apparently he got sick last night and they called this morning to reschedule. Our new appointment will be *next* Wednesday morning, and we'll post when it has happened! In the mean time, Emma is doing really great, we last weighed her at about 18lbs 4oz, which is a 12 ounce gain in two weeks, so we'll see what kind of answers we get from the doc...

Ok, as promised, here are some new pictures!

Emma has been very helpful in the barn- she likes to grab little handfuls of hay and offer them up to the horses, usually she actually hands them to us to feed to the horses, but she sure never gets tired of it!

Emma was being so goofy cute this day, and she was hamming it up for the camera!

Emma and Daddy at the International Fair in Blacksburg

We stopped on the drillfield to let Emma play around and run, and she couldn't get enough of the flowers! Once she figured out how to smell the flowers, she just kept doing it over and over again. She would grab a flower with both hands, press it into her face, and snort really loud breathing in and out several times before letting the flower go- it was so cute! She also found the acorns fun to play with!

Here's Emma dancing to the music at the International Fair in Blacksburg, she had a great time! More pictures later!

Some pictures for your enjoyment!

We recently ordered a new beach cabana, and Emma is especially fond of hiding in it and looking out the side windows. It came with a bag that it folds up into, and the bag has straps like a backpack. Emma thought it was fun to put on and carry around, holding her hands up so it wouldn't slip off!

We recently got Emma this little watering can, and she had so much fun playing with it! We eventually figured out to only fill it about halfway, otherwise she sloshes it out on her clothes!
Here's the precious little girl!
Going out to help in the garden
The nice weather has allowed us to get outside a ton- Emma loves to get out and is constantly on the move!
Oops, out of order- Emma had fun emptying her watering can into the big watering can- I guess she liked the sounds it made... :)
Our gravel dust got moved out into the barn area, and Emma has decided she will move it 2 handfuls at a time from here....

to here! She moved several handfuls and seemed to make a real dent in the pile! ( An Emma sized dent!)

Emma and playing with water

Emma admired our friends' water can so we got her the same one from Target. She goes into the garden with us as we water the plants and plays with her can and a bucket of water. We try and put it near plants that need water because she still has the whole "aim" thing to conquer. In the afternoon she had some tooth pain so we medicated and then went outside a couple of times. She ended up getting wet so we just did a naked play time with sunscreen and hat. Nana sent us a sprinkler and we tried that but I think the water was too cold and the air temperature still not warm enough. She did enjoy moving water with cups and putting it on flowers, my shoes, etc.