11 Months Old

Emma turned 11 months old on Tuesday; I cannot believe that in a month we will be celebrating her first birthday. Where has the year gone???? I am happy that she is growing but sad because it has flown by. I have learned to treasure every single moment because in the blink of an eye she will be all grown up.

What is Emma up to these days?!

• You have taken a few steps here and there.
• You love cheeseburgers! I know how funny that sounds, but she would eat one everyday if I would let her.
• You blow kisses.
• You know where your head is. We are working on other body parts.
• You have mommyitis bad!!! A blessing and a curse at times.
• You love to shop! When we shop you get so excited to hold clothes, you are definitely your momma's daughter!
• You get super excited when daddy gets home from work.
• You love to dance. It is the cutest thing ever!
• You love books, I am so happy about that.
• You like to color. Scribble is more like it, but it is beautiful.

You are doing so much stuff these days. I am so thankful for my healthy, smart, beautiful little girl!

"Count Your Many Blessings!"

I am so incredibly thankful for my hubs and little girl! I couldn't be happier than I am at this point in my life. At church yesterday the sermon touched me deeply, because so often I focus on what we don't have instead of all that we have been blessed with. The fact that we have a house (even if it is a diamond in the rough), two cars, a refrigerator with food, and clothes in our closets is so much more than most of the world. My new goal is to focus on the blessings that God has reined on me and my family. The fact that our daughter is healthy is such a ginormous blessing! I just wanted to share what has been on my heart today. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

10 Months Old

10 Months Old

I decided that on Emma's monthly marks I would blog the new things that she is up to. I am about a week late; the story of my life. Ha!

• You say; ma-ma, da-da, wa-wa, bye bye, hi, ba-ba, and Andrew claims you said bubble one night in the bath. I am not so sure about daddy!
• You will give a kiss if you get close to your face and say kisses. I love this!
• You walk well with your push toy and stand independently. You will take off soon!
• You wave at everyone and everything.
• You points at what you want.
• You are over baby food because you insist on feeding yourself.
• You make the sign for milk when I make you a bottle. We are working on the eat sign next.
• You will play by yourself in your room; but you would rather mommy play with you all day.
• You have two bottom teeth and your two top ones are coming in.
• You clap you hands; only when you want to though.

You are growing so fast Miss Emma Grace! I treasure every moment with you and thank God that I have the privilege of being your Mommy.

It's a Beautiful Morning!

I woke up this morning and couldn't get that song "It's a Beautiful Morning" out of my head. I decided that Em and I would do something outside today. Yesterday we went to The Streets of Indian Lake and walked around. I thought that it would be fun to go play at the park. I realize she can't play just yet; but mommy can. Ha!

We went to the park and had a great time. Emma really enjoyed swinging in my lap. We came home and she took a nap and I cleaned our filthy windows. Wow, you can actually see out of them now! Windex used to be a good friend of mine before Emma. Ha!

I cooked one of my favorite meals for dinner tonight; Poppy Seed Chicken. It is so yummy! I am going to list the recipe below. I hope everyone has a great night! "The Duggars" come on at 8:00 and "The Forgotten" at 9:00. I am loving the new fall line-up!


Poppy Seed Chicken

4 Cooked Chicken Breasts

1 Large Can Creme of Chicken Soup (I use Lite Soup)

8 Ounces Sour Creme (I use Fat Free Sour Creme)

2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds

1 Sleeve of Ritz Crackers

3 Tablespoons of Margarine or Butter

Mix the chicken, soup, sour creme, and poppy seeds together and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Melt the butter. Crush the sleeve of Ritz and pour the butter on top of the crackers.

Remove the chicken from the oven and pour the Ritz on top and bake for another 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!!!

I Heart Weekends!

I love weekends so, so, so much!!! I love my hubby being home. I think I take my sweetie for granted sometimes; I am so very blessed to have him. We had a really nice weekend. We went out with Andrew's family on Friday to celebrate my sis-in-laws B-day. We ate at Demos' and then went back to my in-laws house for pie. Judy (mom) made the best chocolate and coconut pies. I am on a low cal diet so I only had a little piece of chocolate; but let me tell you I could've eaten the whole thing! (On a side note I have lost ten pounds since starting my diet. Yay!)

Little miss Emma slept until 8:30 on Saturday without waking up once. What a good baby! The weather has been terrible so I wasn't feeling so good so we stayed home and didn't do much during the day. Andrew mopped the floors for me since my back was bothering me and he knows how anal I am if the floors go unmopped. We went out to dinner with my Granny and then came home and I actually got to watch an ENTIRE Lifetime movie. I think it is the first one I have watched without any interruptions since Emma was born. It was quite a treat!

My Granny went to church with us this morning. Andrew and I taught the 3 year olds today. They are so adorable at that age! Emma Grace is still not doing great in the nursery. I am not surprised since I stay home with her and play all day. She is so spoiled! We went to our small group tonight and that was our weekend. The weekends go by so fast! I hope you had a great weekend as well!!

Rain, rain, go away!

I have to say that I despise rainy days. I know that despise is such a strong word, but it is how I feel. It is so hard to get up when it's rainy and my hair always looks terrible. I don't think that I could live in Seattle. Ha!

Today is our little angel's 9 month check-up. I can't believe she is already 9 months old! Her first year is flying by. I am trying to plan out her b-day party. I think I am going to go with the "Poodle in Paris" theme. It is so cute.

I have definitely been slacking on the blogs, by the time I have a chance during the day to sit down and do it I just want to veg on the couch. Yesterday I went to the doctor and he helped me come up with a weight loss plan. I am so stoked about it. He said that if I follow his advise I should be able to loose all that I want in six months. I am not about to share how much I weigh , but I will say that my goal is to loose 45 pounds. Woohoo!

I had better get off here; I have a lot to get done before her doc appointment. I hope everyone has a Wonderful Wednesday!!!

Play Day: Who says staying at home isn't fun?!

Today has been a typical weekday here at the DeYoung household. Emma Grace was so kind to wake us up at 2:00 this morning. She was a wee bit hungry. I won't complain because she very rarely does this. She was up for the day at 9:30. She is so sweet to sleep late; she knows that mommy has to have her sleep.

We got up and ate breakfast, well Emma did at least. Colton came over at 10:30. I keep a friend's baby 2 or 3 days a week. The babies are only five days apart so it is a hoot to watch them in action. I think Em is the little instigator. I am not surprised!

We had a great time playing today. We played "grab bag"; the babies picked items out of a box. It is supposed to help their fine motor skills. Colton enjoyed grabbing the baby puffs and eating them! We rolled a ball back and forth to each other. Em is so good at this. We read a couple of books and of course sang songs. It is nice for Emma to have a playmate so I can do some things around the house.

I will leave you with a few cute pics. I am off to get a shower before the babies wake up from a nap. I know, it's 3:15 in the afternoon and no shower. Yuck!

Survey Sunday

1. What is your favorite day of the week?

My favorite day of the week in Sunday. I love going to church, going out for a yummy lunch and then coming home and taking a family nap. That is my idea of a great day!

2. What is your favorite food?

That is a very hard question for me to answer because, well, I like just about anything. I would have to say that my favorite food is my Granny's famous chocolate pie. It is to die for!

3. What is your favorite vacation spot?

My all time favorite vaca spot is DISNEY WORLD! I would live in Cinderella's Castle if they would let me. When I lived at home we went to Disney at least once a year. I can't wait to take Emma Grace!

4. What is your favorite television show?

I am currently obsessed with Desperate Housewives. Andrew (I know he watches it with me) and I are on season 4 and trying to get caught up by the time it comes back on.

5. What is your favorite book?

My favorite book other than the Bible would have to be Love you Forever. My mom used to read it to me over and over.

6. What is your favorite kind of music?

I LOVE Christian rock! I also LOVE Celine Dion (I'm a dork).

7. What is your favorite place to shop?

I think my favorite place to shop is Belk. I usually find a ton of cute stuff!

8. What is your favorite movie?

My all time favorite movie is Troop Beverly Hills. I watched it over and over when I was little.

9. What is your favorite restaurant?

My favorite restaurant is probably The Cheesecake Factory. They have the most amazing cheesecakes! I first went to a Cheesecake Factory on a family trip to Hawaii. Fun, fun, fun!

I can't wait to read about your favorite things!!!!!

Deals.... I think not!

We decided that today was "Family Day". I have been super excited about it all week; since Andrew usually works on our poor house. I will get back to that subject another time. So we get up thinking that we will hit some garage sales and a consignment sale that I have been dying to go to all week. Of course, the DeYoungs get out of the door by 11:30. I know, I know we should have been out of the house by like 7:00 to go to garage sales. Anyway, we drove and drove and finally found one to stop at. I was excited because it was in a ritzy neighborhood. I found a really cute headboard/foot board for our bed. I looked on the tag and it was marked $150!!! Ok, folks this thing was an antique impostor so I was going to offer $75. Well, they didn't go for that.

By this time Andrew is grouchy because he was famished. We made our way to Mallard's. A little "Mom and Pop" restaurant to get brunch. Naturally, they had stopped serving breakfast. Oh, what a day. Emma Grace was so good at the restaurant. I had taken a jar of baby food and she dined with us. For those of you who know me know that we make her baby food so I am always scared she won't eat the Gerber's. She was such a little stinker at lunch; she kept reaching out to grab anyone who walked by. She is going to be outgoing like her momma. Yay!

We finally made our way to the consignment sale and I have to say it was a bust. Andrew was so patient while shopping through the oodles of girls clothes. I ended up purchasing a pair of new Gymboree jeans ($6) and three pairs of pj's ($5). I love consignment sales and I love consigning Em's outgrown things. Moms helping moms!

Today was fun and I wish Andrew had more Saturdays with his girls!!! Next weekend Em and I are going to Indiana to visit my family. We aren't going alone my friend Laura is going with us. Hope you have a great rest of the weekend!