Sylvie came to visit us!

Well, of course, Stephanie and Brian came too! Emma Kate was so excited to have them come for a visit! It is amazing to see how much both girls have changed. Sylvie's hair is so much longer and looks so cute with her little bows. She is so close to walking by herself. She will walk with one hand held and she is constantly on the go. We did lots of fun things while they were here. We went shopping at the outlet mall (the girls always need new clothes!), met some of Brian's family for lunch, ate some yummy food at our local restaurants and played around the house. The adults even went out for a nice dinner while some friends of mine (Thanks to Joan and Nell) kept watch over the house. We put the girls to bed before we left. It was my first time away from Emma Kate with Calvin since we have been home. We had a great time during their visit and vow to get together a couple times of year so the girls can grow up together.
Here are some pictures from the visit!

Stephanie and Sylvie

Emma Kate

Too cute...sharing toys

Sylvie's turn on the ladybug

Emma's turn on the ladybug

Sylvie reading...she LOVES her books!

Waiting for our food

Playing with Sylvie

Kisses

It is incredible to know that Sylvie and Emma Kate have this bond together and we will work hard for them to foster that bond and friendship. We feel so fortunate to have traveled to China for our experience with people who we know we will be forever friends with! We love you Stephanie, Brian and Sylvie!!!

First Family Trip

We took our first official trip as a family at the beginning of November. We went to Alabama for a friend's wedding but made a trip out of it so Emma Kate could meet her grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins (Calvin's mom, sister, brother in law and their children). Emma did a great job on the trip but had some difficulty getting to sleep at night. She stood in the crib and cooed and babbled trying to get our attention. She is not used to sleeping with us in the same room. One night, she did not go to sleep until 11:30 or so. We did not sleep well either because we heard every move or sound she made in the crib. Other than that, we had a great trip!
Here are some pictures from the trip.

with cousin Taylor

with cousin Trent

with Taylor and Trent

with her grandmother Nell

with Taylor, Aunt Connie, cousin Dalton, and Calvin

playing with Taylor's cell phone

joy riding



October

Well, I have been terrible about posting once a week. I will try to play catch up now and try to get back on a schedule. We had our friends Mat and Catherine who live in Charleston come into town for a visit in October. They had not met Emma Kate yet so that was lots of fun. Emma Kate really does well with visitors and loves to interact with people. Sometimes it takes her a little bit to warm up to someone, but once she does...watch out! She will be all over you! During the time that Mat and Catherine came, we all went out to a nice dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Calvin and I have been married for 11 years now. Our anniversary date is bittersweet to me. It is also my father's birthday. I thought getting married on his birthday was such a great idea. Since he died in 2004, the date has been a bit sad for me. I try to think of some way to celebrate him instead of mourning his passing. Anyway, here are some pictures from when Mat and Catherine were here. I also included some pictures from our wedding since we have been together for 11 years.

Catherine, Emma Kate and Mat

The guys

The girls

Our little family

1999- Our wedding party

1999- My dad walking me down the aisle



HALLOWEEN

I just LOVE halloween! It has always been a fun time of the year for me. I love the cooler weather with the leaves changing colors, the crisp air and as a child I loved to go trick or treating. Now I love all the decorations and pumpkins. I found a cute giraffe costume for Emma Kate to wear for Halloween. I had her try it on a number of times so that once Halloween came, she would not want to wear it or be afraid of it. She did not seem to mind the costume at all. On Halloween night, I took her out in her stroller (she is too heavy for me to carry around the neighborhood) and we went to some of the neighbors to trick or treat. She did really great! She did not really seem to get the whole idea but after a few houses, she was understanding the idea of reaching her hand in to the bowl and grabbing the candy. She did not get to eat any of the candy but she seemed to have a good time. She had one piece of candy clinched in her hand for most of the night. Once we got home and pryed it out of her hand, it had melted into an odd shape. Here are some pictures of her in her costume and some other pictures in Halloween related clothes.

Ready for trick or treating!