Our First Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We enjoyed the day at Carol & Bob's. Emma loved the meal, she really enjoyed the sweet potatoes and dessert. We have enjoyed the nice long weekend. I did some shopping, did some baking, we went for walks, enjoyed time as a family and did a little decorating.

Emma with her Uncle Bob. She loved sitting with him. She was quiet and gentle. Uncle Bob was just in a car accident, so she was interested in his "owies".

Auntie Carol & Uncle BobGrandma Winone and her little sweetheart.

Watching Kim carve the turkey

Uncle Chad and his little E.

Not Happy

Gophers lost - 6-0 to Michigan. It was terrible. Emma was distraught!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends! We wish you a day full of blessings! We truly are blessed. We are very thankful for our precious gift - Emma.
We are looking forward to a day with family and friends. We know Emma will enjoy her 1st Thanksgiving!

MN Golden Gopher Hockey

Emma loves to watch Gopher hockey. She recognizes the M and Goldy on tv. She runs to the tv and points. When asked what Goldy says, she raises her finger for "we're #1"

Here is a cute story - we were out to eat and were seated near the salad bar. She enjoyed watching people come and go. She was so excited because someone was wearing Golden Gopher wind pants and a Golden Gopher hat. She kept pointing to them in excitement and held up her #1 finger.

Enjoy the video of Emma watching the Gophers.

22 Months

She did not want to particpate in the photo shoot. Whenever we asked her to sit with Belinda, she would go play with something else. Emma sure has been busy. She is talking more and more, she is saying words and still loves to babble.

Emma's words

• Mama
• Mom
• Dada
• Please
• Thank you
• Grandma
• Auntie
• All done
• No
• Book
• Boo

What is Emma doing?

• Still loves her stuffed puppy
• Jumps
• Runs
• Recognizes people and objects in pictures
• Loves taking all the snacks out of the cabinet
• Enjoys playing with her kitchen set
• Loves riding her bike in the house
• Likes to listen to people on the phone - sometimes will talk on the phone
• Loves playing with cell phones
• Copies everything we do
• Loves Goldy Gopher - Go MN Golden Gophers

Battle of the Godparents & Parents

It seems we have some friendly competition about
Emma's favorite team.................Mom & Dad's choice - Go Gopher Hockey! Emma loves watching the games. She runs to the tv and points when the M or Goldy Gopher is on. Godmother Nicole's choice - Green Bay Packers - she loves her Lambeau field hoodie.

Godfather Uncle Chad - North Carolina Tarheels. He has been trying to get Emma to say 'Beat Duke".

Godparents Jess & Ryan - Go MN Vikings and Go MN Twins. Yes, Emma has a Farve jersey! She is actually watching the game in this picture.

Emma has more sporting apparel then her mother. Whichever team is her favorite, she loves wearing the clothes and is very thankful for such wonderful Godparents!

Reading with Grandma

Yesterday, Emma wanted Grandma to read her a story! My mom looked at me, said "She doesn't want to sit and read, does she? She never sits." The moment was priceless because when they were done Emma looked at the pictures and said her version of "Grandma". She also said Grandma when my mom left. We have been working on Auntie and Uncle, maybe Emma will say them soon.

car seat - facing forward

Big development for Emma - she is now facing forward in her car seat. We decided that it was time for her to face forward, she was finally over the weight limit in September. So, we made the switch on Friday, November 6. Her first trip was to Virginia to do some shopping. The entire 10 minute ride she said Hi over and over and was busy talking, she was very excited. Yesterday's car ride. She went to "school" at Appletree daycare for 1 1/2 hours. She loves going and wants to carry her backpack.

Visitng Great-Grandma

I realized that I didn't post about this special visit.
While I was gone on my mini scrapbooking vacation, Emma, Chris, Grandma Sandi and Auntie Carol went to visit Great-Grandma. Emma loved taking a ride with Great-Grandma. Auntie Shari knitted Emma's sweater. They had a wonderful visit.

In Loving Memory

We lost a wonderful person this past week, John. John was always there to lend a helping hand, take interest in what was going on in your life and cared deeply about you. He will be missed forever. They have been friends of my dad's family for generations.
John and Gerry, you are loved by many!
John and Gerry waited along with us to become parents. We are grateful that John got to meet Emma. It was a quick visit, but wonderful. He played high five with her and was truly happy we were home with our daughter.

Emma's new hoodie

Emma received this gift from her Godmother, Nicole. Nicole has been a long-time Green Bay Packer fan. She just visited Lambeau Field a couple of weeks ago and got Emma this hoodie.
Emma and her pal, Frankie.

Fall Festival at Church

Our church has a Fall Festival - games for the kids and a chili cook-off contest. We thought the ladybug costume would be too warm, so Emma wore her fairy costume. She loved wearing the sunglasses, she thought she was very cool. She started waving to everyone when she had them on. Her friend, Ethan, was pokey the puppy. Emma and Ethan are making sure his tail is still attached.

Fall Festival - ECFE

We went to the Fall Festival for Emma's ECFE (early childhood family education) classes last week. At first, she was a bit overwhelmed. There were many games to play, an obstacle course, crafts, snacks and her favorite game, golf!!! She hit one of the golf balls out the door and down the hallway. The National Honor Society students were helping at the event. It was nice to see the high schoolers helping. We knew all of them, so Emma received even more attention.

Emma is dropping ghost clothespins into the jack-o-lantern.
Crafting with Mom


Needing some help from Dad

Our little pumpkin

Pinning the nose on the scarecrow

Grandma Visits

Grandma Sandi came for a visit. She was here for a week. Emma loved seeing her. She loved all the special attention.Celebrating Grandma's birthday

Emma loved wearing Grandma's shoes. She thought she was so cool.

Mom on Vacation

I went on a mini-vacation! I went for a long weekend,scrapbooking with my aunt and cousins, and friends. It was wonderful spending time with my three cousins and aunt. I haven't done that for years. It felt like a slumber party. It was great! We stayed at a house in Chippewa Falls, WI. I accomplished almost 40 pages!! I was thrilled. It was hard to leave Emma, but I talked to her on the phone many times and was scrapbooking pictures of her.

So, it didn't feel like I was gone as long.

The Cropping Cousins!!!

Halloween - Our Little Lady Bug

Visiting at Mark, Dora and Anton's. She loved the lighted pumpkin. It had started to snow.

We went trick-or-treating to a few neighbors. She didn't understand why she was wearing this and riding in the stroller. Once she realized she got to get out and we weren't going for our regular walk, she was excited.

Emma enjoyed trick-or-treating. She thought it was a lot of fun to knock on the door, walk into the house and get a treat. She enjoyed visiting with everyone and all the special attention she received. For dinner we had a jack o lantern pizza. Fun!

Thanks to everyone for making her 1st Halloween so special!

Halloween - Pre-trick-or-treating

On Friday, October 30, we went to Miners Bank. The employees were all in costume and the Bank was decorated. Nicole and I brought Emma in her costume to visit and try her hand at trick-or-treating. She was overwhelmed at all the attention she received. She enjoyed it!

She loved the dog, Emma wanted to watch her and play. Thank you to Carla for being such a good puppy. Isn't the costume awesome?!