Ouch x 3

We've had a rather painful few days here at the Brew house.

Emma had her one-year well-baby exam and shots late last week.

We celebrated getting over those four shots, one finger prick, one 100.2 degree fever, and a lot of general yuckiness by heading to the zoo this weekend.

In one excited Ohmygosh, is that a lion!? moment, our sweet girl broke into a run in shoes a tiny bit too big for her feet and met the pavement below. Pavement, meet Emma's forehead and nose. Emma's forehead and nose, meet pavement. While she walked away with only minor scrapes and was smiling and laughing just moments later, her parents suffered.

And suffered.

And suffered.

Until they suffered some more.

Once home, she decided to pick up her piano and run with it (naturally), only to once again lose her footing (this time not in her tiny bit too big shoes) and meet the ground below. Ugh. Piano, meet Emma's upper gums and lip. Emma's upper gums and lip, meet piano. As opposed to her earlier meeting with the pavement, this one caused some blood. Tyler snapped a picture of her battle wounds after she was once again smiling, laughing, and doing perfectly a-ok. It's maybe the saddest picture I've ever seen!

So, in summary, it seems our baby is learning to run. It's been very hard on all of us so far.

Suddenly, this little helmet is looking like a mighty fine idea.

And, by the same token, so is this bubble.

We're kidding, of course.

Sort of.

First Birthday Cake

Emma tasted sweets for the first time at her first birthday party. My Mom made her mess cake (the smaller of the two cakes on the table) and it was so adorable. So was the cake she made for the adults.

We wondered how Emma would like her cake.

We also wondered how she'd like eating it in front of so many people :)

After we all sang to her and Tyler and I blew out her candle, it was just the girl and her cake.

So, this is a cake, huh?

I mean, I guess since you all came out for my birthday, I could take a bite.

And squish it. I think I'd like to squish it.

Here, Mama. You try.

Daddy, this is kind of tasty. Have some.

Hey, this is kinda fun!! I like cake!

Aquarium Fun

Inside the Mall of America there is an aquarium. We decided to check it out a week or so ago after Emma went nuts for some fish at a pet store.
She loved it, and we did too!

Near the beginning, she saw a sting ray up close and even pet a starfish.

Then, we checked out the jellyfish. Did you know that jellyfish have been around longer than dinosaurs? I didn't.

Up next was their big draw. You walk into tunnel after tunnel, where literally there is nothing but glass above you, to your left, and to your right. Swimming every which way were sharks and what felt like all possible fish. It made us feel like we were at the bottom of the ocean. It was so awesome!!

Here's our little friend, sharky.

Will you please remind me to never spend any quality one-on-one time with this guy!?

Wordless Wednesday

The We-Received-Emma's-Birthday-Pics-And-Can't-Wait-To-Share-Them-With-You Edition

A Proud Daddy

I (TB) must say there is nothing better than seeing my daughter take a liking to something I like. Most of you who know me know that my life revolves around golf. Golf is part of my job, I play when I can, I watch tournaments on the weekends, and KB and I even golfed together up until a week or two before Emma was born (and were at the course when her water broke).

Last week, we posted a video of Emma hitting a few golf shots around her playroom. Now, as she walks more and more each day, it seems like her love for golf has only grown. The funny thing is, until last week, no one really showed her what to do with a golf club. Sure, she is my viewing partner on Sunday afternoons when the PGA Tour events are on TV, but she is the one who picked up her clubs and started swinging them all by herself. I can now even say "Emma, go get your golf clubs" and she goes and picks one up and starts looking for a ball to hit.

My sweet angel may like or not like golf as she ages, and either way is fine with me, because I will always have the memories of her playing golf with me as a 1 year old.

Rebirth

Today was a really eventful day. Tornadoes devastated multiple cities, including parts of Minneapolis. We're thinking of and praying for all those affected. Thankfully, a good thing happened, too. We were able to attend the baptisms of my cousin's twin boys.

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures until after the service because I was chasing a baby girl you may know just outside of the sanctuary. I managed to get this one of Emma holding her Daddy's hand.

And, Tyler managed to get this one of me holding Emma.

Back at Sarah and Brian's house, we enjoyed some time celebrating the boys' big day, and Emma lived her dream of actually touching one of them :)

She also visited with her Great Aunts and MoMo.

When we arrived home, Tyler needed to send a few e-mails off so Emma and I headed outside to play. I brought our camera because...do you see the outfit she's wearing?!

Aliases

You and my parents may know me as Emma, but before bedtime around the 'hood, I go by many names.

Speed walker.

Lawnmower.

Sad puppy dog impersonator.

Welcoming committee chair (she's mid-wave).

And, bell ringing trike rider.

P.S. We've started using Blogger's updated post editor. Our pictures are huge!

Yum-o!

The nights I struggle to get blog posts up are the nights our girl thinks that sleeping is for babies. Some nights, I think it's teething-related pain that keeps her up. Other nights, I think she doesn't want to hang out in Guam all alone. Tonight, I think she was feeling like she had a really fun day and didn't want the party to end. We went to story time at the library in the morning, took a long walk around lunchtime, played in the yard in the afternoon, and played inside this evening. It was good day.

During our lunchtime walk, we stopped at Chipotle, and Emma enjoyed her own little burrito with rice, beans, and guacamole. She's a good little eater. She happily scarfs down nearly everything we put in front of her. I know she may not always be so willing to, so I'm soaking it up. Her favorite food group, we think, is vegetables - she loves peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, beets, broccoli, and carrots the most. She also digs fruit (strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pears, kiwi, mango, banana, and cantaloupe) and protein of all kinds (meat, beans, and eggs). The "dessert" she goes most nuts for is cinnimon applesauce, and she actually feeds it to herself (and her clothes, and the rest of the kitchen) with a spoon :)

I took some pictures of her eating her breakfast the other morning. This was a toast, egg, and blueberry morning. She was being a major ham!

Wordless Wednesday

The One-Year-Ago-Today Edition

Go For The Green

Move over, Michelle.

See ya later, Paula.

Helloooo, Emma.

We bought Emma her first set of golf clubs for her birthday. We didn't expect that she'd love them, but we did kind of hope she would ;)


We have them stacked by our front door to go outside with a few of her other outdoor toys, and several times per day, she'll actually fish them out of the pile because...she wants to golf! Right now! Inside!

And, she has shown us that she can hit the ball.

At 12 months.

Yes, oh yes, she can hit the ball.



She absolutely never ceases to amaze us.

One-derful Birthday

If you noticed that some of our recent posts disappeared, it is because Blogger was down late last week and things became kind of wonky. It looks like they've reappeared, so that's good!

So, where was I? Oh, right, Emma's birthday...

We spent her big day in Des Moines, which was actually completely unplanned. Her birthday coincided with the end of my semester and a big meeting of TB's. Because my family was staying in Des Moines an extra few days anyway, we thought it might be better to stay with them for the family help. The icing on the cake was that we also had some extra time to celebrate our sweet girl.

And celebrate we did.

Late in the afternoon, we headed outside to play with a few of her new birthday gifts. My obsession with our camera means that I captured it for you to see :)


















I can't wait to tell you all about her big party. My sister's friend took the pictures so that we could just enjoy ourselves, so the only picture I have is this one. I took it just before the partay started.

Mother's Day

We welcomed Emma into the world on Mother's Day. It's kind of a tradition in my family, as my cousin and brother (maybe others, too?) were also born on Mother's Day.

Although the best Mother's Day gift I will ever, ever receive came at 1:37pm last year, this one was pretty special, too. I spent the whole entire day with my favorite girl, and Tyler and I (and our sisters) were able to spend time with the other important Mamas in our lives - my Mom and Grandma, and his Mom and Grandma. To have so many Moms under one roof at the same time was awesome and kind of miraculous given that every last one of us lives in a different state.

Here are a few Mother's Day pictures of me with Emma and of our little family.






And, a teaser. This picture is of TB and Emma playing outside during her birthday party on Saturday. I turn into a puddle just looking at it. The girl loves her Dad and bouncy balls. Credit for this gem goes to the talented Suzanne Ballard.