Pictures of E's Birthday

Opening presents with Mom

Playing on his new castle slide

He figured out how the slide worked pretty fast and practically started throwing himself down with no one to catch him

"I don't know why I'm getting all these presents, but I LIKE it!"

We spent the day at COSI for Emerson's birthday and he especially liked the water exhibit

Playing with his Busy Ball Popper

His little birthday cake...he's not sure what's going on...

He decides he should maybe touch it...

He decides he REALLY likes it

Guzzling his milk after devouring his cake

Smiling through the chocolate mess with contentment

E's bulging belly

Emerson's birthday was a ton of fun. He was happy when he woke up and got to have his favorite thing for breakfast: yogurt. What a way to start the day! Then we decided to have him open his presents in the morning because he's generally happier in the morning. He was absolutely showered with gifts! He got a climb and slide castle, a set of animals, a mini soccer ball and a busy ball popper from mom and dad. Grandma and Grandpa J gave him some cute books, clothes, and a Fisher Price Little People Barn. Grandpa and Grandma Christensen gave him some cool Dash light-up shoes.

After presents, we had lunch and headed to COSI. Emerson was good the whole day and especially liked the water exhibit. He had a great time playing in the water and rubbing it around on his hands. We had to stop as soon as he started slurping it off his hands though.

After COSI we went to the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner. (For those of you familiar with Spaghetti Factory in Utah, it was similar, so we're not sure who copied who.) It was so good. Emerson enjoyed sharing Mom's fettuccine alfredo.

After dinner we came back to the house for Emerson to play with his new toys and of course for his birthday cake. In my family it's a tradition to make the baby their own mini cake for their first birthday and watch them eat it. I didn't even realize that a lot of people don't do this until like a few months ago. Really. I was clueless. We just always did it and loved it. And I know it's great to use natural sweeteners and stuff for their first cake and try to make it healthy, but come on...it's their birthday. If ever there was a time for them to deserve chocolate, it's on their birthday. And plus the mess shows up much better on film if it's chocolate. So I made Emerson his own little cake and I made a fudge ribbon cake for the rest of us. (Thanks Jamie for the recipe! It was so delicious for Jon's birthday we had to have it again. :) ) Emerson was a little shy about his cake for a minute or so but then he decided to go after it and he couldn't stop shoveling it in. There was even a point when he picked up the whole cake off the plate. He made it almost through the entire thing. We were amazed. He absolutely guzzled his milk down when we gave it to him. He was so dang cute.

We got laughing so hard at his big belly after he finished his cake. We had to undress him because he was such a mess and he had cake crumbs down to his belly button. He was toddling around the kitchen acting wired and showing off his belly. We thought it would be funny to see if he would go after more cake if we showed it to him and he stopped and looked down at his belly as if deciding whether or not it could hold more and decided that it could and he reached for the cake. (Don't worry, we didn't let him have any more. He had PLENTY. :) )

Happy 1st Birthday Little E!

(This was like the only time during the whole day he would look at me even though he looks extremely solemn.)

Today my little baby turned one. I am in absolute disbelief. What did we do before we had this little guy? It does not seem like a year ago that he was born. Time has absolutely flown by, but it's gone by slow as well. It's been weird thinking about where we were a year ago and what was going on. It's amazing how much Emerson has learned in the past year and how much he's grown. He's always had a funny little personality from the moment he was born and insisted on having his hands in the happy place. His personality has just gotten even more pronounced. Emerson was lucky enough to have Grandma and Grandpa J and Uncle Brad and Aunt Steph fly out for his first birthday. (Mom and Dad were pretty excited to have visitors as well even though they were there mostly for E. :) ) He was just showered with gifts from all kinds of people who love him. I don't think he ever figured out it was his birthday today, but he sure had a great time with all of his new toys and his own cake. At one year old, Emerson:

*Walks like a champ
*Is very talented at drinking from his sippy cup
*Loves to play peek-a-boo
*Waves and claps like he's known how all along
*Answers "ya" to any question addressed to him
*Sorts his food on his tray, dropping some off the side and dropping some into the cup holder
*Discriminates against the smaller, less desirable pieces of food during his meals. He patiently waits until Mom decides to give him more and he can select the largest pieces
*Adores yogurt. He cries when he finishes the little cup
*Loves going down the slide at the park
*Imitates Mommy laughing and getting excited
*Is Mommy and Daddy's biggest helper

We love you so much Little E! You are our favorite boy in the whole world and we're so blessed to be your parents. We just don't know what we would do without you.

*More pictures and posts to follow detailing the rest of Grandma and Grandpa's trip and our home improvements.

Kirtland/Niagara Falls/Palmyra Trip

The Little Christensens in front of the Kirtland Temple

E being unproportionately large in front of the Kirtland Temple

Being a happy little fella

Niagara Falls

Our family on the Journey Behind the Falls (although you are unable to see the annoying French-Canadian teenagers, rest assured they are there pushing their way in front of us.)

Dad and E at the Hill Cumorah Visitors' Center

Helping E walk at the Joseph Smith farm

Dad and E in front of the Palmyra Temple

Emerson and Kennedy laughing at Ben

The Sacred Grove

Last weekend we took a trip to Kirtland, then Niagara Falls, and ended in Palmyra. We met Ben's family at Niagara Falls and continued on from there. Although it was a lot of driving, it was lots of fun and Emerson was great in his new carseat. And thank goodness for our portable DVD player.

We decided to stop at Kirtland on the way up for a small dose of church history. There was actually a lot to see there and we really enjoyed it. Then we continued on to complete the 6-hour drive to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. It was a weird little place...a lot like Las Vegas. The border guard gave us a hard time and kind of made us feel like criminals. I'm not sure why, and I'd like to think that they do that to everyone. But oh well, they allowed us over the border and more importantly back to the United States. The Falls themselves were pretty spectacular. It was really cold by the falls and it was tough to see things in some places because there was a lot of mist. Unfortunately we weren't able to ride the Maid of the Mist because it wasn't open yet and there was still a lot of ice on the falls. We were able to go on the Journey Behind the Falls, but we couldn't see a lot because of the ice.

After Niagara Falls we continued on to Palmyra and were able to see the Hill Cumorah, the Joseph Smith farm, E.B. Grandin's bookstore, and the Sacred Grove. I'm not sure what my favorite part was because they were all so interesting. I was surprised that Palmyra was kind of a crappy little town besides the well-maintained church sites.

We had a good time hanging out with the Christensens and getting to see our little nieces before their family moves to Peru in a few weeks. And we're so glad that Little E was such a good boy for us. Thanks for the fun trip!

Building a Cushion Fort with Dad

Ben had a great time building a cushion fort with E. Emerson's favorite part was destroying it, and as you can tell by his face, it was serious business.

Little E at the Park

He LOVES the slide. He can't help but smile on the way down.

I like that he looks like the bear on his shirt

My big boy on the swing

He still has the same arms hooked around the swing as a few months ago but he looks bigger!

We've had some nice springlike days around here the past while, so E and I have made lots of trips to the little park in our neighborhood. It's so much fun! I love that he's getting big enough to play. I think it's just going to get better, too. He just loves being outside.

Baby Einstein

Baby Einstein and I have a love/hate relationship. But let me back up. I'm blogging right now at 8:04 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and I've been up since 6:30 when my child awoke screaming. He cried on and off for about an hour and screamed bloody murder when I put him in his bed because I mistakenly thought he had calmed down enough to fall back asleep by himself. Silly me. I finally decided to come downstairs and give him some breakfast which consisted of rice cereal and some banana. (His new thing is taking bites off the banana while I hold it. That's much cooler than picking up diced pieces of banana off the tray.) Lately he's been downing bananas like mad. He cries whenever he's done.
So back to Baby Einstein. I turned it on for Emerson after breakfast so I could do stuff. This is the main reason for even owning Baby Einstein. I have no idea whether it makes kids smarter or dumber, but it keeps them occupied...whatever. I love the fact that his face lights up and he makes excited babbles when the music comes on and the caterpillar crawls across the screen. And I think it's adorable that he sits down and folds his little hands in his lap and pays careful attention to all the puppets and toys they show. I like that they have some mesmerizing things on there to watch as well. I especially like the tornado thing on Baby Mozart. It's really cool. I'm also a fan of Baby MacDonald. There are a few things I can't stand though. I get tired of the same ones over and over. The main lady's voice grates on my nerves. When I'm in the other room doing something and I hear her stupid voice saying over and over "Get up" or "Stand up" in time with the music I want to tear my hair out and scream. Another annoying thing is the hand model on all the movies. For those of you who have never experienced Baby Einstein, let me explain. There is a disembodied hand that demonstrates a lot of the toys while the music plays. The female hand is all stiff and unnatural. It just looks so robotic and weird. And it bugs me. My favorite was when she had a scabbed-over gash on her hand and you couldn't help staring at it while she was showing some mesmerizing toy. (Ok so maybe gash is a little much, but it was a visible wound.) Anyway...I like it and I don't. I think I'm going to have to try Elmo's World pretty soon as my friend suggested so I don't go all the way crazy.

Friend Sippy Cup

This is where the friends spend most of their time. They push each other down, play with the spring doorstopper, suck on highlighters, and play peekaboo with the curtain.

The little men

Emerson figuring out the sippy cup. Notice all the milk spatters around his eye.

So I've been trying to get Emerson to catch on to the sippy cup. He refuses to take a bottle, and I don't want to go through the process of weaning him from the bottle anyway...But he hasn't been real friendly to the sippy until he was really thirsty. And until he saw that Tucker had a cool milk container as well. Genius. I just let Emerson watch Tucker drink from his cool milk holder for a minute and then handed him his, and boom he layed down and away he went on the formula. I'm really excited to be done with breastfeeding, but there's a small part of me that's sad too. My little boy won't need me anymore and I'm not going to be special. :( Don't worry, I'll survive. Especially when I don't have to strategically plan my outfits for church to give easy access. *Wink* Goodbye skirts, hello dresses. Although, it is fun to give and receive a good flash here every now and then in the Mothers' lounge when you realize either your dress top won't pull down quite far enough or you have to retuck your camisole at the end. It's always a party.

Trip to Virginia

Uncle Tim and E in their matching shirts

Just chillin'

E and Dad at Manassas Battlefield

Little E and Kennedy...Family resemblance?

E and Alli in their snazzy jammies

Alli and Emerson watching Baby Einstein together

Kens and E swaddled up with their daddies

Kennedy and Emerson playing

The Little Christensens in Washington D.C.

Ben at the Jefferson Memorial

Ben at the FDR Memorial

Wind and FDR

Uncle Ben reading a story

Last weekend we took a little trip to Virginia to visit Tim, Brooke, Alli, and Kennedy before they move to Peru. It was a 7 hour drive, but Emerson was very good. He was very entertained by his new big boy carseat, a variety of snacks, and a few hours' worth of peekaboo. We had a great time watching Emerson play with his cousins, going into D.C., going to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, rollin' in the Pilot, playing games, and just hanging out. Thanks for all the fun! We're sad you're going to be moving so far away.

11 Months Old!

It was a toss up of which picture I should use to document Emerson's 11 month mark. They all demonstrate his funny little personality. At 11 months Emerson:
*Gets excited when the Baby Einstein caterpillar thing crawls across the tv screen.
*Cries when mom leaves home without him. (With Ben watching him of course.)
*Can clap his hands and wave! (The biggest, most awaited accomplishment.)
*Is getting dangerously close to saying "Hi" "Mom" and "Dad"
*Occasionally toddles around when he wants to
*Crawls at the speed of light to the dishwasher to "help" mommy.
*Smashes his fingers in doors because he loves to open and shut them.
*Stops playing to look at his truck book all by himself.
*Does all the activities in his Pat the Bunny book, including turning the pages.
*Drops things off his high chair tray and then tries to look over the side at where they went.
*Has figured out how to put a blanket over his eyes to play peekaboo.
*Refuses to stay still while having his diaper changed.
*Has discovered that the DVDs come off the shelf...and loves pulling them off and throwing them.
*Has started eating table food and hates mashed potatoes.
*Has begun the weaning process. (Hooray!!)

Emerson Walking For Real

Ok Grandma and Grandpa. Here is Emerson walking for real. This is the best we could do with our silly boy. Only 29 days until you come visit! Hooray! (Sorry the video is so dark. I'm not sure why...)