Playgroup

This weeks playgroup was at our house. As I was uploading the pictures I took I thought it would be fun to compare to some old pics of playgroup.

Back when everyone just laid there. Expect for Samuel. He was sitting.
A month or two later. We are still all pretty much staying in one place.

Here are the pictures from today's playgroup. Everyone is a moving.

Samuel and Piper holding hands while looking outside.

Everyone is on the move!

Today we had more toys, movement and a few spats. When we started the play dates it was really for the moms but, now it is definitely for the kids.

First Haircut

In the past couple of months Em's hair has been growing a lot. Her bangs had started getting into her eyes. I tried using bows and clips to keep it out of her face but, her hair isn't thick enough yet to hold the bows. Given the thickness of her parents' hair I don't think this will be an issue once it has all grown in. So, in the meantime we decided to trim her bangs. We gave the honor of her first haircut to Grandpa. Back in the day, Grandpa used to cut hair to pay for school and gas. We have had lots of hairstylist in our family. Em's Great-Granny was a beautician, Em's Grandpa had his barber's license and her Aunt Renee has a cosmetology license. So, here are some pictures of the big event.

The before shot. Waiting on Grandpa to get started.

She didn't want to sit still. This was definitely a new experience.

A little better.

My mom kept using the barber's brush to dust away the trimmings. Em got a hold of it and thought she would tickle Grandpa.

All done! I think my dad did a great job; my little Beatle. Em was squirming all over the place. And. my dad's poor back was killing him. He had to bend in weird positions to get the right angle on little Em. Thanks Grandpa!!!

Crawling and Smiles

We recently put our house on the market so, I have been incredibly busy getting the house ready. Today, I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of Em lately (at least not with my good camera). So here are some pics we took while playing before nap time. With these you can see her crawling and pulling up to standing.

I love this face. I can call to Em from across the room and her she comes a crawling smiling.

Teethy grin. We have 2 1/4 teeth. A third tooth just popped through on the bottom.

Love this smile but, I am biased.

Big girl standing.

Laughing while playing.

Stop taking pictures mom!

Goodbye Jake

This past week we lost the family dog, Jake. I call him the family dog because, he was. Jake belonged to no one person. I got Jake my senior year of high school. He was my dog. I cleaned up after him, feed him and he slept with me. He was my crying shoulder and always there to cheer me up. He had this amazing personality. He loved people. Didn't matter who you were if you came into the house you had to meet Jake. He made sure of it.

When I went off to A&M he was stolen; by my dad. Spending their days together they became the best of friends. They would take daily visits to the new house (under construction at the time) in the vette.

Jake was the best. There wasn't a mean bone in that dogs body. In fact, the one time he was bitten by another dog at a softball game Jake didn't do anything. Just took it. He was a special dog.

About 3 months ago Jake was diagnosed with lymphoma. Given his age, the family made a decision that we would just make Jake comfortable and not put him through chemo. Up until his passing he would swim 6 times a day and despite not feeling well was still good for a snuggle. Oh, and that dog loved Emmers. When we came over he would always have to come say hi to her.

Jake we are going to miss your twisty-butt, 100 mph, energetic self. You were loved and respected by all. The other night we were at my parents' house (where Jake lived) and my mom was feeding Casey, Rosie and Daisy. She tried to feed Daisy in Jake's bowl and she refused the food. You will be missed dude.