Turtle and pool

Poppa found a turtle on Sunday afternoon, which provided great entertainment for both the youngsters and adults.

The girls took a liking to big cousin McNeill.

Love this daddy-daughter picture at the pool.

Water was still a little chilly, but that didn't keep the children from having a good time.

The Wheaton men with their little girls.

Out for a walk

On Saturday morning, right between naps, we went on a nature walk.

Emma leading the way.

The only picture of all four of us (plus, the back of Timo's head).

Friends for the weekend

We had the privilege of spending the weekend with the Giesers for a few days.  To accommodate both of our young families as comfortably as possible, we moved into Byron's parent's home for the weekend.

Jim and Byron were Wheaton classmates (as well as Julianna).  They were in each others' weddings, and have kept in touch through the years.  Last time we saw them was three years ago.  They are currently living in North Carolina, which made a short weekend road trip to Augusta possible.

On Saturday morning, Jim prepared IHOP's copycat buttermilk pancakes for breakfast.  They were delicious!

Emma and Gemma (their 2.5 year old) became good friends.  They enjoyed a lot of time playing together.  Both girls are Dora fans, and Gemma insisted on being called Dora, which Emma was glad to do.

The (G)emma duo.

Jim continues to be famous for his mile-high salads.  Byron could not resist picturing Jim with his kibi-leftover salad.

Car

The "car" continues to be Emma's favorite toy.  It's been outside since it came home a few weeks ago, but today I decided to bring it inside.  It's amazing how long this little car can keep her entertained for.

Here she is playing with it along with her milk, some power ranger keys I got at a yard sale last week, and some magnet letters she keeps loading and unloading from the car (not seen in pic).

Silly little girl!

Family/Prego picture

To all who have been requesting a prego belly picture, I finally have one!

Indulge yourself with the lovely view of my lovely little family, and the sight of my 26 week baby boy belly.

Not sure what my exact numbers are for this week, but for the record's sake, at 25 weeks I had gained 17 lbs.

Tia

Alison and Rob came into Augusta for my graduation dinner, and Emma took a liking to her aunt right from the start.  Anyone who is patient enough to sit for extended periods of time and read to her is an immediate favorite of hers.  Alison must have read close to a dozen books to her during her short visit.  Emma would grab some books, and indicate to "tia Alison" where she wanted her to sit to read to her.

Master of Education

 Last week I concluded my graduate level studies.  I began taking classes in the Fall of 2010 while still working full-time at LBC Middle.  I took a year off when Emma was born after having completed half of my required hours, and in the Summer of 2012 I realized I had two options:  (1)  Go ahead and finish it now, or (2)  to close that door and never look back (ie -- never finish my Masters).  With the encouragement of my husband and with funds available, we decided I should go ahead and finish it.

I would have never been able to do it without the help of Memma, Nana and Byron who helped keep Emma for me while I went to class or met with a professor during the day.

I was not planning on attending any of the graduation ceremonies, but my loving husband went ahead and RSVP for the hooding ceremony saying:  "I've put too much time and money into this -- you are going to your ceremony!"  (I love that man :) ).  So here are a few pictures of my hooding ceremony:

The "placing of the hood."

After the ceremony, with my little family.

With my man <3 br="">

Saturday (the next day) I put on my robe again and had Byron take some pictures of me outside.

This is what a 25 week pregnant woman looks like with a graduating robe on.

Afterwards, as a way to say thank-you, we took some family and friends out to dinner.  We had originally planned on going to a Japanese Steak House, but being graduating weekend combined with mother's day weekend, the earliest we could get a reservation for was 9:30 pm.  So we changed locations to Bucca Di Beppo.

Anna and me :)

Aunt Alison, Emma Girl and her Kodak smile, and Mommy.

The full table.

Family picture with Aunt Alison and Uncle Rob.

Pillows

First off, allow me to brag on my man :) 'cause I don't take him for granted!

The moment he walks into our door, he takes full responsibility of our child.  You'd think Santa was walking in through our door the way Emma squeals and runs with excitement to greet him!  He helps keep her busy while I finish off dinner prep, gets her cleaned for dinner time, then cleans her off after dinner.  If it's bath night, he ALWAYS gives her a bath and puts her PJs on.  He is who reads to hear and prays with her before bed.  I do still have "rocking privileges" though :)

One of their favorite games to play in the evening (and mornings too, sometimes) is the "pillow game."  It's a very simple game.  All you need is a long, comfy sofa and four pillows.  Emma normally gets everything ready and goes get daddy.  She lays on the sofa and has daddy stacks them on top of her:  "one.... two... three... four!"  Just like this:

This game has really encouraged her to begin counting.  Her favorite number is "fow" (four).  You can hear her counting with one of the following versions (Spanish is sometimes mixed in):

-  "fow, fye, sits"

-  "dos, fow, fye, se'en"

-  "tee, fye, sits"

-  etc...

We've also been working on her colors.  Orange is one color she ALWAYS gets right.  Everything else seems to be "zul" (for "azul" - blue).  We've been noticing lately she can recognize other colors as well (she says most of them in Spanish):

-  Gris (gray)

-  "Fe" (brown - cafe)

-  "vede" (green - verde)

-  "zul"

-  Black (normally in reference to shoes -- "back shoes")

She can also point out a few other colors if we ask her to find them without saying them, colors such as yellow, red, etc.  These are not as consistent as the others though.

She has also started to take a real liking and interest in reading.  After reading through her book collection about six times over the past three days, we finally made it to the library today to expand our collection (more for mama's sake -- she would have continued to be happy reading "Let's be thankful" 20 times in one day if it were up to her). 

One last thing -- she has started recognizing places.  Even though she is still facing back in the car, she can normally recognize where we are going.  She'll shout:  "casa!" (home) when we are arriving to our home, or "Kroc" when we arrive to the Kroc Center.  She'll even recognize places such as Kroger or Costco (which sadly reveals how often we go there :p).