Pantry Closet Renovation

My dad is in town and that means projects are getting done around the house! I have disliked our pantry closet since the day we moved in over a year ago. It was time to say good-bye to the poor layout and dirty walls. Hello more space and a cleaner closet!

before...

Andy hammering out nails...

My dad finding the studs...

Me painting...

after...

Funny Faces

Emma's new thing right now is making funny faces. This particular funny face is her "ohhhhhh" look that she does when she sees something exciting.

It's Inevitable...

With Emma walking all over the place, it's bound to happen. It's unavoidable. She is going to get bumps and bruises and she's gotten her first one. One day, at school, she took a tumble and hit the toy box. The teacher said she cried for just a bit and then got back up and played. That's my girl!

Writing Practice

Emma worked hard on "writing" her thank-you notes for all of the fun birthday gifts she received.

Another New Friend

Emma has met another new friend, Dylan. We work with Dylan's mom, Katie, at school. Unfortunately, her husband got a job back in Philly and she won't be coming back to our school next year. Very sad.

12 Months Old!!!

Okay, so these are not the best photos of Emma, but it really is getting difficult to get her to hold the sign AND look at the camera longer than 1 second. I might have to change things up a bit for future photo shoots.

Birthday Party #1

We decided to have 2 birthday parties for Emma--one for friends and one for family. Birthday party #1 was with friends.


All set up...





I just had to put a photo of this bunny on here. Uncle Ben went to Build-A-Bear and made this bunny for Emma. He even tied the bows and picked out the t-shirt! Nice job, Uncle Ben! (We even named her Benjamina.)





Emma is fascinated by cell phones...uh-oh.

Birthday Party #2

It was great to have our families together for Emma's 1st birthday. I think Emma had a little better idea was what going on during this second birthday party.

Ski Week Fun

It was great having all last week off and being able to spend that time as a family. While Andy was on his ski trip, Emma and I tried to stay busy. We went to a 1st birthday party for Emma's friend, Addison, on Saturday. We went shopping at the outlets on Sunday with my friend, Jen. On Monday, we went to visit grandma and grandpa in Salt Lake. On top of that, we got out for a sled rides (with Cooper, of course) every day. I painted our master bathroom and we played...lots!

Emma loves music! She bobbles her head around whenever there is music playing.


Andy is so proud of his beard. I call it Furry February.


One night, we got together with friends for dinner. It was way past the girls' bedtimes so our friend, Jeff, was trying to put them to sleep. It didn't work.

Andy's Ski Trip

We had this past week off from school. Locals call it Ski Week but I think the district's term for it is Winter Break. Andy left last Friday night for a 4-day ski trip in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with 4 other guys. It sounds like it was quite an experience. It didn't stop snowing the entire time they were there.

11 Months Old!

It is hard to believe that, in just 1 month, Emma will be 1 year old.

It gets more and more challenging to take these photos. The last few months she has tried to eat the sign. Today, she took the sign apart and was quite fascinated by the tape.

We were going for the mini-skirt look today.


What you don't know is that I was dancing around behind Andy (taking the picture) to get Emma to laugh.

Go Packers!!!!

Emma was definitely showing her WI pride on Super Bowl Sunday.



with Uncle Ben