Happy Halloween!

"Gonna eat candy till the cows come home."

"Mooo..."

Visiting with Zumu.

I'm the dairy farmer with my cow. Yes, I know, my costume is WEAK.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Getting Ready

I haven't been able to post a lot lately since I've been getting everything together for our visit and flight over to Russia. As much as I've been anxious about having everything together and for the long flight I know that this is just one day and that it's really not so bad. We will survive!

Here's Emily riding in the Target cart for the first time. Don't worry, I wiped that thing down real well with the complimentary disinfecting wipes. She was loving being almost eye level with me. Ok, not really, "eye level," geez, I'm not that short!

Bathing Beauty

"Wait a minute Jess. Why on earth would you buy your daughter a new swimsuit in the middle of October?"

Well...there is a community center with a pool over wonder in Chekhov. So the plan is for some family swim time once we're over there. And since it was 78 degrees here in Chicago today I thought I'd try it on my little lady.

"Do these horizontal stripes make me look chubby?"

Ahhh!!! And I die.

P.S. Finding a swimsuit for your kid in October is not easy. Thank God for Amazon.com!

Competition for Biggest Fan

Brian sent me these amazing photos from a competition he was judging for, "biggest fan," back in Chekhov. It was open to young kids and apparently only boys???? I don't really know the parameters. All I know is that the prize for biggest fan was an XBOX. What kid wouldn't want that. Who knows if these kids are even fans at all!

The contestants.

This boy looks like a fan of Star Trek? Oh, wait. Must be a mini Vityaz track suit.

My favorite. Check out the splits accompanied by that gun show!

Nothing like a sailor doing some break dancing to impress an audience.

Even this dog got in on the action.

Maybe they'll let me come along and help judge the next competition. This looks very entertaining!!

Hangin' with dad

We've been using Skype to talk to one another these past several weeks and for the most part Emily hasn't paid Brian much attention when he's on. The last week or so though she's finally been, "getting it," and actually smiles and reacts a lot to Brian on the computer. It's been great to watch and I know its meant a lot to Brian to finally get his daughter to pay attention to him and laugh at his goofiness! Her favorite thing he does is the slurping sound he makes when eating yogurt. Gets her every time!

Less than two weeks!

Flights are purchased and our Visa's are supposed to arrive by next Friday, yeah! Now if I could only come up with some magical potion between now and then to guarantee Emily sleeps at least one leg of this trip. Someone suggested there may be such a potion under the name of, "Benadryl." Hmm...something to think about.

Pretty soon this crew will all be back together again.

What a gorgeous day we had for Emily's baptism. Missing those kind of days this past week when we had rain, rain, rain.

6 Months!

Better late, then never. Little behind on getting this post up.

Here is Emily in her 6 month sticker tee! It was tough getting a good photo this time around. She wouldn't stop moving around to pose and when she did she gave me this "What???" look.

She is now 14 lbs 4 oz and 26 1/2 inches long. Kind of a long, skinny baby, aka Super Model Baby.

Update

On Monday I brought Emily in for her follow-up appointment with the plastic surgeon to check on her head and to see if there were any positive changes. I am SO happy to report that she does not need a helmet and that her head shape is improving. It was very gratifying for me as I have spent the last several weeks working and working and working with Emily. I know she was working too, but my arms, back and neck were sore from literally carrying her around for hours on end! Thank you Lord for this great news!

On a funny side-note. I've come across a food Emily does not like. BANANAS. Like mother, like daughter. Never been a fan of bananas and I'm still not, unless they're baked into a bread or muffin and are accompanied by chocolate chips. When I was younger, I remember a friends mom trying to get me to eat a banana and I lied and said I was allergic. I knew that was the only thing I could say to avoid ever having to eat one at her house.

This photo is of Emily after finishing something she does like. PEARS.

Killing Time

We had some time to kill at the doctors office this afternoon. After going through my bag of tricks and having each of those tricks fall on the floor, I went to the next best thing. Tri-fold paper towels. Emily loves all paper napkins, towels, etc. It's like her crack. Also provides her with a daily dose of fiber.

"Dang, this paper towel taste good."

P.S. It's a jungle out there!

Russian Baby Food Maker

I've been making Emily's baby food since she started eating solids about a month ago. I'm not trying to be super-mom or anything here. I just love to cook and for me it's just something that I love to do, to finally make food for Emily that isn't from my boobies! It took her a while to get a hang of this whole "solids" thing, but now that she has, she loves to eat. Haven't had her turn down a new food yet, fingers crossed that trend continues. 

Here at home I just steam the fruit or vegetable in a steamer and then puree it in the blender or food processor. I told Brian I really wanted to continue to make her food when I come out to Chekhov. His initial reaction was, "Let's just buy her Gerber." But after explaining that it's just something I like to do and is fun for me, he went on a mission. Mission accomplished. And only 2599 rubles! 

Look at how happy that baby is with the magical carrots floating into his bowl!

Birthday Buddies

For those of you who were not aware, my sister and Emily share the same birthday, April 10th! My sister was in town visiting with me and Emily this past weekend. Being the super Aunt she is, she spoiled Emily with a pair of baby Frye boots. Here are a few shots from her Frye boot photo shoot.

"Yeah, new boots!"

Swinging with Katie!

Fall Photo Shoot

With my wonderful sister in town to play camerawoman, I was finally able to be in some photos with Emily. We went over to Wagner Farm where Brian and I had our wedding photo session. It felt fitting for me to take Emily over there and reminisce a bit. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Sunny, brisk and just the perfect day to be outside and spend some time taking photos with my little lady.

Sitting in the pumpkin patch.

Check out that warty pumpkin on Em's right. Gross!

Just goin' for a ride with some pumpkins.

A few of you may recognize this swing...

Little squinty.

Golly gee, I love this hay.

"I want this one!"

"See mom, this one is the coolest. Please?"

Hello.

Looking at these horses has me craving a Budweiser.

Holding Hands

My friend Rinne and her daughter Annalise came over to visit us today. Emily was doing her best here to hold Annalise's hand. I think this is her way of asking Annalise to be her friend. Aren't they just darling?

One Down, One to Go

It's been one month since Brian left for Russia. One month from today I'm planning on being en route to Chekhov with Emily. This past month has seemed to last forever on some days and flown by on others. In the beginning I didn't know how I was going to do this on my own for this length of time. But now it's just become a routine. The other day I was so proud of myself for carrying Emily, a Costco sized package of paper towels, UPS package and my diaper bag up three flights of stairs in one trip. (No babies were harmed or put in harms way during this trip). :) You just do it.

Here's a cute photo of Emily from the other day that is totally unrelated to this post.

Fashion Forward

Emily was working on minimizing the look of her chubby cheeks with this V-neck cut wrap sweater as well as pulling the eye down to her feet in those sweet pink moccasins. Don't know if any of these style tricks are working, hard to hide those adorable cheeks!

Thank God For...

...Grandmas!

After a LONG stretch with just me and Emily together 24/7, it was great to have both grandmas available to watch Em this weekend. I was able to go to a fundraiser for Big Brothers, Big Sisters on Friday night with some great friends and catch up with one of my best friends who was in town on Saturday night. The only thing that could have made the weekend better would of been a Badger win.

Here's Emily with her favorite toy, Jerry the Giraffe.