Emily Claire is 2 Years Old!

Oh my goodness...where has the time gone? Emily turned 2 on August 2nd! Wow, two already, it really doesn't seem possible! Grandpa came to visit for her birthday and we went to lunch at Joe Willy's, the same place we ate last year on her birthday, so now it's a tradition! 

We had a little party at our house with a few friends and set up a swimming pool and a rainbow sprinkler  thing that had to be "Aggie Engineered" to work properly! We all had a great time...it was a beautifully hot August day in Texas!

We haven't had her well check yet but I will try to remember to post her stats after we've gone. Emily is a very good talker. She was talking in complete sentences months ago...short ones, but sentences none the less! She loves to play with Caitlin, hide and seek is their favorite! She LOVES shoes...flop flops, of course but she also loves to walk around the house in my dress shoes (she might as well, I'm not using them!) She has the cutest little face that we just want to kiss all the time. She gives the best hugs too. We are so very blessed to have her in our lives and I still don't know what I did to deserve such great kiddos! 

Here's a picture of her birthday cake. We had flip flop invitations to send out so this was only appropriate to have for her cake. Emmy LOVES "flop flops!"

Caitlin, Jayden, Devin, and Emily playing in the pool! The Sorrells' were there too (Joe, Jaime, Samantha, AJ, and Lily Kate)


Our precious Birthday Girl! I still can't believe she's 2!

Crossfit

So almost a year ago I started Crossfit. Sean had done it for a while back in Waco and we decided after we moved to Rowlett that Crossfit would be the one thing that we did that was truly for us. It was very hard in the begining for many reasons: 1) becasuse I was quite out of shape I was sore for a very long time! and 2) because Emily was so young she didn't want to be left alone (even with Caitlin in the room). Crossfit Rowlett has a kids room set up with toys, a couch, and a tv so they will be entertained while the parents are working out...this is very nice of them and one of the reasons I was able to go at all! To be honest, they have gone above and beyond to help me out...the owner Mark had his wife Kynsie come up a few times to sit in there with Emily so she would calm down. Many days she would just carry her out in the gym so she could see me and would be calm. They are very nice people and I'm glad to call them my friends too!

Now that I've been at this for several months I am starting to get better at a lot of things. I am even more sure that I am not a fast runner, in fact, I joke that I only have one speed whether it be a 200m run or a mile run! Not having ever lifted weights a day in my life it has been a long journey to learn the movements and the names of the lifts...that was the hardest part- the names. There are a lot of names! I can say that I rarely get them confused any more...thank goodness because that was very frustrating for me! I can say that I am decent at lifting weights. The body weight movements are definitely not my strong suit but I am getting better at those too!

Every year Crossfit puts on an OPEN that anyone can register for and see how good they are in the sport so for kicks and giggles I registered this year. Mind you, I'd only been doing Crossfit since September 2012 and the open was in March 2013! 7 months that's plenty of time to have "practiced" for the open right!! Well I figured it's a good way for me to actually see progress! I was very excited that it took me until the very last open WOD (Workout of the Day) to get to a movement that I just couldn't do (there was another WOD with a movement I cannot do but I didn't make it that far to even try...)! I ended up in the lower middle of the pack for our South Central region and the world.

This picture is from the first open WOD 13.1: burpees and snatches

This is a tank that my friend Cecilee picked up for me at the Crossfit regionals this year! I like the "pun" intended shirts!

Bunk Beds...hmmm

So Sean's mom, Sue, had a long term stay in the hospital at the beginning of the year. For three months. Once she got out of the hospital she came to live with us. One of the reasons we bought a 4 bedroom house was so that we'd have a guest room. Well Sue moved in and we set her up in the then guest room. We decided to move the girls in together, which I had planned on for them a little later in life anyway! So, they now have bunk beds...Caitlin sleeps on top and Emily has spent one night on the bottom bunk! It's her first time having a "big girl" bed and also the first time for either of them to share a room! Things have been interesting. Caitlin does well because she's used to sleeping in a bed. Emily, not so much right now! We put them to bed at night and Emily gets several chances to stay in their room/bed but eventually I get tired of taking her back and she gets put in the crib! It doesn't take her long to fall asleep once she's in there! There's just too much to do when she's in her big girl bed...one day she will get it (I just hope it's one day soon!!)

Missing My Friend Today...and Forever

One of the hardest things to do is go to a funeral. It's worse when that funeral is for a very good friend who was such a blessing to many. My friend Jackie was an amazing woman and I miss her like crazy, along with hundreds (if not thousands) of others. We met in college at an Aggie baseball game, that was what brought us together and our love for God and Aggieland kept us together! Jackie was one of the smartest people I have ever met. She seemed to know everyone! We couldn't go anywhere that Jackie didn't know someone, and not just know their name but she knew their story. She was just an amazing person, I've never heard a bad word spoken about her. She was genuine. She knew that what she was graced with in life came directly from God and she gave back to Him and others as much as she could.

Jackie was one of my bridesmaids and I was one of hers. This picture was taken at her wedding!

She was involved in a deadly cycling accident in San Diego, where she and her husband were stationed. She had fallen in love with cycling a few short months back and was doing quite well in the sport. It was a freak accident that took her life. She was, however, able to save 6 peoples lives through organ donation! What a blessing for those people, the youngest was 4 years old!

This is me and Jackie's mom, Martha.is wearing the locket that Michelle, Mandy, Eileen and I got her with a picture of Jackie in it. Her mom and dad threw the best tailgate at the Aggie football games. 

We love you Jackie Price Dunn and miss you like crazy!

Emily's 18 month Well Check

So...Emily turned 18 months old in February but we were a month lat for her year and 15 month check ups so we had to be a month behind for this one too! She did very well even though she had to get 2 shots!

I'll add her stats soon!

Looking Back!

Caitlin (2 days old)

Emily (about an hour old!)

Caitlin (15 months)

Emily (15 months)

Caitlin (4 years old) with Aunt Michelle

Christmas 2012

At the begining of December our neighborhood had a Christmas get together with Santa. They had face painters and jingle bells that the kids could learn to play songs with. It was a lot of fun and the kids got to play a little bit with Santa's elves and reindeer!

Emily's first visit with Santa went well I think!

Caitlin asked to redecorate the tree and told Santa when leaving to not forget a present but never specified what she wanted!

Caitlin became a "Candy Cane Princess" She's very good while getting her face painted!

After Christmas Mass. Cait does not like having her picture taken very much anymore so these are the kinds of pictures I'm getting if she knows I'm taking them! Emily, on the other hand, is much more accomidating!

Oh and we got SNOW for Christmas too! Quite a bit of it and it stuck around for a couple days too! This was the day after, I think.

Well Checks

Back in December we scheduled the girls for their well checks. Emily was due in November but we had to find a new pediatritian and they didn't have any openings until December so she had her 15 month check at 16 1/2! Caitlin had her 4 year check up the same day on schedule. They both got a ton of shots...ouch! Emily cried, as expected. Caitlin cried and was not happy with me or the nurse who gave the shots and told us so! Then the nurse told her she could pick out a prize on the way out and she was a lot better after that!

Emily is a very healthy girl. She's bigger than Cait was, which has been the norm her whole life! She weighed 27.6 lbs and was 31" tall. I was told that both those stats are in the 80-90%! I was also told that at her age she should be able to "say" at least five words...well she's got that! These are the words she "says" pretty well- shoe, bye bye, night night, boo (peek-a-boo), baby, thank you. She will point to her ear now when you ask her where it is! She loves having her tummy tickled and she gives the best open-mouthed kisses you could ever imagine! She is growing too fast and we are trying to soak it all up! She is a very happy little girl and has a smile that melts your heart! She has such pretty curls in her hair that catch everyone's attention! And she absolutely loves playing with her big sister!

Caitlin is also very healthy but is still on the smaller side of the growth chart. She was 36 lbs and was 36" tall. I was told that she was at about the 30% mark which is a bit smaller than she had been but she's gotten quite picky about the food she will eat. If it's green she won't touch it! She will eat grapes and apples and last night willingly ate cauliflower, for the first time in at least a year! Caitlin is a talker! She will tell anyone near her that her name is "Caitlin Amanda Forquer!" She is such a sweetheart and everyone she sees is her friend! Cait's visit was a bit different this time. She had a hearing and vision screening. For the hearing screen they put the headphones on and gave her the button to push and all she cared about was pushing the button. The nurse was patient with her and after explaining a couple times she did a great job and passed her test! The vision test was a little easier, she named every shape they asked her and her vision is perfect! When the doctor came in he asked her a lot of questions. Her name, where she moved from, what her sister's name is, then asked her several colors and had her draw shapes (circle, star, and a square) after he drew them. She did great with it all!