School Prep

Emma starts 4 year old Kingergarten in August! So we've been practicing writing her name and letters. I think she will love it! I have opted not to tell her yet b/c if I do I know she'll ask every day "when am I going to get to go to school?" So, to make things easier on both of us, I'm waiting to tell her til closer to time.

I'm really excited about starting this new stage with Emma. She's always loved the idea of school. We've been having "school time" at our house since she was really little, she's even made me drive her by the school she'll be going to when she's in 5 yr old kindergarten. She sees the school buses drive down the road and can't wait to ride one one day!

Guess who?

This is a cute little picture she drew yesterday. Really cute I think!

Baby Dean

Congratulations Johnathon and Amanda on the birth of Dean Gavin Cranston! He was born Sunday morning May 25th, 6 lbs 12 ounces! What a sweet little baby!

Emma and Chloe were playing in the closet of the hospital room.

Papa and Lili

Good Times!

Emma got in her great grandparents' pool for the first time this year and boy did she love it! I thought she might be a little timid at first and would've probably forgotten how to swim but she PROVED ME WRONG! She jumped right in and kept on jumping! She picked the swimming right back up. We had so much fun today..........hope you enjoy the pictures, they are in no particular order.

Happy Memorial Day!

We hope you are having a great Memorial Day! We love all of you!

We were on our way out the door for church and I don't have many pictures of just me and Lili, so mom took this yesterday for me :)

A Hard Habit to Break.......

Oh, we are having a day today. As I sit here, Emma's trying hard to go to sleep with out SUCKING HER FINGERS. It is so tough.
She had a dentist appt. yesterday and got a great report, no cavities, teeth look good and so on. But the dentist encouraged us to have emma stop sucking her fingers. I've been dreading this for a while. With Emma being the strong willed child that she is, I really have to pick my battles. But this is for her good and benefit, so yesterday we dove head first right into it. He said go all or nothing. No "it's only ok when you do this" it's either ok or it's not. So, I am trying to get her to quit "cold turkey".
She gets to take a "big girl" trip to the Botanical Gardens with mommy and daddy if she can go for a few days without sucking her fingers. (The gardens were her choice, she loves that place). I thought using some positive incentives might do the trick, but nonetheless it is difficult.
I'm open to any helpful hints or suggestions. This is new for me. I remember when I was little, it was so hard to stop sucking my thumb. I still remember the first night I went to sleep without sucking my thumb, best night's sleep ever!
Also, this is one of the things she still does that she did when she was a baby......so we really are moving on to the big girl stage.

This is a pic of when she was 2, sucking her fingers. See how cute she is?

Well, she did it! She finally went to sleep without her fingers to help her! Yay!

Okay, I know her pillowcase doesn't match her sheets! You may not have even noticed :) That is a pillow of mine from college that she loves for some reason, so that is the one she sleeps with regardless of the fact that it doesn't match her other bedding. I guess that's just a pet peeve of mine, of course she could care less!

OOh, gotta go b/c now my other child's waking up.........

Emma the Grand Prix Winner!

Last night was our church's annual Awana Grand Prix! Awana is our children's program. This was Emma's first year, it is for children ages 3 years through 6th grade. Last night each kid got a chance to race cars that they ( with the help of parents and teachers) made. And Emma's won! We were so excited for her. I think she was really proud of her car. She helped paint it and decorate it with little frog stickers. She won her first race, then the semifinals, then the finals winning a "shiny and gold" (that's what she called it) trophy! Enjoy the pics.....

Emma's car (notice the flames!)

Winning the first race.

Lining up for the final race.

You can't really see her car,(it's right where the little boy's head is) but it was a close race!

Congratulations!

She was shy during her winner's speech.

It says 1st Place, speed.

This is Emma's friend Will! He also got a trophy. They enjoyed playing with them!

It certainly was a special night. We had so much fun!

All the Grand Prix Winners!

Emma's Cubbies Class

Emma loved her first year in Cubbies! She has lots of friends in her class, this is Caitlyn! They like to be silly!

These are two of Emma's teacher, Mrs. Melinda and Mr. Pete.

At the awards ceremony all the cubbies came up on stage and sang a song for everyone, it was really sweet!

Emma's cubbies class.

I love my fist!

Really any part of of her fist or fingers that she can get into her mouth Lili loves! From the moment she was was born she has sucked her fingers. But up until recently she'd always have a hard time getting them into her mouth. I just thought these were some cute pictures of her enjoying her favorite past time!



When I take pictures of her, she just looks at the camere like "What is this shiny thing right in front of my face?"

What Do You Think?

Do you think that Lili and Emma look alike?

Lili at 3mths

Emma at 3mths

Emma 2mths

Lili 2mths

Not Your Average Tea Party!

Emma and I had a tea party today! We dressed up in our finest mardi gras beads and you'll even get to see me sporting a fashionable feather boa! We had alot of fun with the camera. It's kind of difficult to take a picture of myself while playing with Emma. So, some of the pics are fuzzy and just plain silly looking. Also, I'm experimenting with photoshop, so the coloring in some of the pics is a little crazy. But I think they came out kinda cool :)

Hey! Have you ever had Cap'n Crunch at a tea party?