Houston Aquarium

While in Houston, we went to see the Houston Aquarium.  Pops joined us.

 Checking out the fish with Pops.

 I see a fish.

 One of the tanks.

 Fake smilein front of a tank.

 Checking out the sting ray tank.

 They are getting close mommy!

 No I don't want to touch!!!!

 Deep sea diver Em!

 One tired tiger!

Em and Pops posing with the tiger.

Merry Christmas from the Family

Christmas Eve we went over to Justin's Grandma, Em's Great Grandma, house for a family dinner.  Em had so much fun passing out gifts and opening her presents.  She is so spoiled!

 Playing Santa.

 Helping Grandma open her presents.

 The entire family!  Three generations in one picture.  Merry Christmas from the Family!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The other day after going to the Dbat Lakeside grand opening, we stopped by my parents' house to let Em take a nap.  Their house is significantly closer to Rowlett than our house.  When Em woke up Ga, mommy and Aunt Nae were decorating Ga's Christmas tree.  Em had so much fun helping out.

 Pretending to play the horn; backwards.

 Em thinks she is incredibly strong and likes to pick up anything and everything.  Luckily, this was almost empty.

 Putting the angel on top of the tree.

 Being silly with daddy. She looked like one of those statues on the front of a pirate ship

 Cuddling with Daddy and Hunter.

Love you Ga!  She had to say thank you!  We have actually been working with Em on her manners and saying please and thank you.

Soccer!

Some friends of ours from church have a little boy the same age as Em.  They told us about a 2-year old soccer league they had signed their son up for.  We decided to sign Em up as well.  We arrived Saturday not sure how it would go.  To our surprise it went very well.  She had so much fun running around the field, playing inside the goal and even kicked the ball 3 or 4 times.  She was also so excited to see a friend from school playing on the other team.  Below are the pictures from The Apple Slices (Em's team) playing The Orange Slices. 

Pre-game warm-up playing with the arcade games.

 Looks like she is having fun.

Go Apple Slices!

 The field was definitely a little crowded.  10 kids, 10 parents, 2 coaches and a ref.  Each kid gets to have a parent on the field to help out.  Em would run up to the pack saying "Emeline's turn, Emeline's turn!" 

Emeline and her daddy!

My Pretty

As we began decorating for Christmas, I wanted to find a way to get Em involved.  While at the store I came across this wreth kit.  Em had so much fun decorating it.  She was so proud and calls it her pretty.

Ga and Pawpaw's House

This past Saturday we spent the day and evening with my parents (Ga and Pawpaw). We headed over to their house in time for lunch and then Em took a nap and Ga and I ran to a baby shower. We then spent the rest of the evening hanging out and catching up. It had been about a month since we last saw them.

The next morning after breakfast Em went outside to join Pawpaw in watering the flowers. From the pictures below you can probably see that she watered herself more than the flowers. Grandparents will let their grandkids get away with anything. I stood there and watched her play and once she was soaked decided to actually take some pictures.

The Circus

The Circus came to town this weekend. Justin and I decided that it might be fun to take Em. So, I got tickets and we went. Em did ok. She is very independent and struggled with being carried around downtown. However, once we got inside and she could walk she was in awe. We got their early enough to do the pre-show. She loved seeing the acts up close and dancing around the rings.

Trying on one of the ring master's jackets.

They had free clown noses. We picked one up and she loved it!!! Although, her nose is still so small that it didn't stay on that well.

I think this picture is when the circus had just started and they were marching in.

Eating her first cotton candy. Uncle Mike this picture is just for you! Although, she wasn't that biggest fan. She would just eat small bites. I think she found the texture weird. Her favorite was the pretzel.

We took several pictures of the show but, here was Em's favorite. The elephants.

There was so much going on that she really struggled with keeping focused on the show. Whenever there were animals involved she would watch. All the other parts, not that interested. Our seats weren't the best view but, our section wasn't full and we had plenty of room to spread out resulting in Em having plenty of room to move around. All in all it was a good time.

First Day of School

As I said in the last post, I have returned to work. I was excited and nervous to take Em to her first day of school. Here are some pictures of the first morning. During the summer she gets to wear whatever we want but, starting on 8/22 she has to wear a uniform. I will post pictures of our first day in uniform when that happens but, in the mean time here is our first day of school.

Laughing at mommy singing the good morning song.

You know you are jealous of this hair!

All dressed with our hair tamed.

Eating some breakfast at our big girl table. Now we eat at school but, that day I made her a special breakfast.

My little girl is getting so big!

Hi, remember us!

Yes, it has been too long since I updated that blog. The truth is my laptop stopped working and it took me about 3 months to get it in and repaired. Then, summer hit and we have been busy. Lastly, life has changed for the Dillard's...I have returned to work. After several discussions, a few tears and tons of prayers, I made the decision to return to work. I found a job with a bank doing what I did before. I just finished my second week and I LOVE it. It feels good to be back in the working world. I think I am making the adjustment to being a working mom well...although, I need to figure out when to get the house work done.

So many of you are wondering what about Em. We have enrolled her in a christian based daycare and she is doing very well. We still have a few tears every morning when I drop her off but, her reports are that she is doing very well during the day and making friends. She is even taking naps at school; something I was very worried about. I think she is still adjusting to a hour nap versus her 3 hour naps but, she really isn't cranky when she comes home.

All in all, we are doing well and I promise to be better about updating the blog somewhat regularly.

Update on the Pool

We are nearing the finish of the completion of our pool. The tile, rock work and decking are complete. We are just awaiting the rerouting of our sprinklers and plastering. Then we will be swim ready once the warm weather gets here.

Weekend Visitors

This past weekend our friends Mark, Kendra and Caden came to visit us. Caden is a year older than Em. They had so much fun playing together but, by the end of their trip both kiddos were worn out. Below are some pictures of their stay.

Chocolate chip cookies before bed.

Enjoying some cinnamon toast for breakfast together.

Swinging in the park.

Super Bowl Party

Yesterday we had some guests over for the Super Bowl. Brian (works with Justin), Molly and Madeline and our neighbors James, Lauren and Lindsey. James' wife Jill wasn't feeling well so she didn't make it. While the game was entertaining, most of the fun was upstairs in the game room. Emeline found a friend in Lauren. She just adored her. I see lots of playtime in our future.

Em and Lauren

Playing with the telephone.

Madeline and Lindsey