On Friday morning of our Raleigh week, we headed strawberry picking with the Dew crew! Even though we went at 10 am it was still HOT but the kids had an awesome time together.
Emery and Samantha loved picking but most importantly EATING the strawberries instead of putting them in the buckets haha so cute. It was hard to pull the wagon, help the kiddos and take pictures but here are the few we did take!
After we had filled 3 buckets we went into the barn to get some ice cream to cool off. Perfect morning together! Such a great time with my sis and her kiddos!
And here's a picture of what Emery and I made with our bucket of strawberries! Two yummy strawberry pies-- DELICIOUS!
While we were in Raleigh we also got to hang out with Sara & her boys one afternoon! I was so excited when she suggested we meet at Pullen Park with the kiddos as I knew how much Em would love the train & carousel rides along with all the playgrounds. It really is a cool place for everyone involved :)
Train rides!
People watching:
Kissing after snack time:
Having a blast running under the spray mist:
And playing in the water & sand area! Thankfully this was our last stop as we had dirty and wet kiddos by the end of it!
So great catching up with you in person, Sara, we need to keep up this seeing-each other-every-month thing -- we're loving it!
Emery and I ended up staying that entire week in Raleigh to hang out with friends and family! I was so excited when both Whitney and Lauren said they were free to hang out one afternoon and catch up. The last time we all got together in person was last year in Boone, so it was so great to see them again and see how big their kiddos have gotten. Lauren and Whitney are BOTH expecting again which is so so exciting so we all had fun catching up, eating a pizza picnic outside for dinner and watching the kids play together.
I just love this picture-- shows all their personalities PERFECTLY! (Max & Virginia had gotten really wet at the water table so that's why they are nakey!)
Mommies & kiddos:
Perfect candid shot!
So thankful for my "graphic design girls" and how we've kept in touch over the years!! I'm alreadylooking forward to our next get together when there will be TWO more babies-- ahh! And thanks again Whitney (& Scott) for taking all these pictures for us!
As an early birthday present, Tara treated me to an awesome girls' night out in Raleigh a couple weeks ago! She lined up a babysitter for all the kids (both of our hubbies were traveling!) while we went out to a delicious dinner in Durham and then went to see the Broadway musical, Sister Act.
Here we are with our delicious meals. It was SUCH a treat to be able to sit and catch up without having to cut our kiddos food or entertain them so they wouldn't have melt downs or jump out of their seats!
Tara and I know every word to the movies Sister Act and Sister Act 2 so it was neat to see a different twist on the story in some parts and hear new music. I hadn't seen a Broadway show in so long, such a treat!
Thank you again, Tara, for treating me to such an awesome night out. I love anytime I get to spend with you but this couldn't have been more perfect for me! Love you!
From the second Kyle enters the door after work till Emery goes to bed, she begs Kyle to "fly couch". This video is from a while ago, but you get the point of what "fly couch" is! (And I hate that I even have to say this but OF COURSE Kyle is super careful when throwing Emery onto the couch and always gets her in a safe landing position)
Can you tell from these pictures how much she loves it?
And I have to share this next video too-- even though it's almost 2months old. I actually caught one of the few full blown temper tantrums that Emery has ever had on camera... probably the only one that she's ever actually thrown herself on the floor for. This video CRACKS Kyle and I up though and we've watched it so many times. Totally shows the mood swings that toddlers go through--- and all for flying the couch?!
Hope you all had wonderful Mother's Days celebrating the wonderful mommies in your life! My biggest gift was that we did not travel anywhere, had a very low key day and just enjoyed our family of three. Emery was cracking us up because instead of "Mother's Day" she kept wishing me "Happy Monday Mommy!".... so cute!
Emery and Kyle let me sleep in while they went out to get donuts, what a treat! Emery even drew a bunny on the front of my card for me:
Emery was battling a fever (teething we think now) so we didn't end up going to church. Her sleep at night was really struggling, so she was taking multiple naps a day. I snapped this picture of her and Kyle taking a nap on the couch that morning.... so thankful for these two.
Later in the day, I was able to go get a pedicure which was such a treat!
Love my sweet girl, teething or not, and I'm so thankful to be her mom!
Anyone else have a toddler that is getting to be a pickier eater by the day? I've been wanting to write this post for a while now, and I really would love to hear your tricks/tips/input on what you do or use to fill your child up with the right foods! But until then, here are a couple things we are currently trying in our house! A couple months ago, I talked with our pediatrician about what we could do to keep Emery's immune system high all the time. When Emery teethes her immune system gets suppressed, making her more susceptible to catching other things... which is when she gets the really high fevers. I talked to her about vitamins, supplements, important foods and other things to help Emery get the anti-oxidants and vitamins that she needs for a strong immune system. One of the first things she recommended to me was not a multivitamin (so many of these are filled with unnecessary ingredients-- sugar being a top one in the gummies) but for us to try Juice Plus.
Luckily, one of our close family friends, Jenna, is a distributor of Juice Plus so I immediately contacted her to hear more about it. Not only is Jenna a distributor of JP, but she is also a nutritionist who has an undeniable passion for healthy living and someone who's opinion I truly value. Thank you again Jenna for taking the time to talk everything out with me -- click HERE if you haven't read her blog on our sidebar yet! After talking with her, I felt like this was definitely worth a shot to start Emery on the daily chewables which would add the nutrition of 17 fruits, vegetables, and grains to her diet! She loves them and reminds me as soon as we go downstairs "Need vitamins mom! Two reds and 2 purples!" haha. It comes to around $20 per month, but if your child is between the ages of 4 and 18 they can participate in the children's health study and get theirs for free if you are taking it.With that said, please do your own research on this and make sure it's the right thing for your family! Another recommendation that Jenna had was to start drinking smoothies in the morning with Emery. It's a great way for us to stuff in veggies without Emery knowing, and it really does taste delicious. So here's a picture of what we've been doing... spinach, berries, coconut water and some yogurt... YUM. Here's the link to Jenna's smoothie recipe-- we'll be trying that soon!
Like I said, Emery loves them and I'm so glad we're getting some spinach in her. A lot of our friends put kale in theirs too, but we haven't tried that yet. My sister does spinach with banana smoothies and said her kids drink it down so quickly!
Oh and I have to share a flop we had the other day. Since Emery loves yogurt dots so much I thought it would be perfect for me to buy some organic toddler veggie pouches and freeze them to help get some nutrients in her. MAJOR BUST Emery won't even put them in her mouth... oh well at least I tried!
So now it's your turn!
What are you doing with your kids? Any brands, vitamins, foods, supplements... Please please share!
Monday morning, I had my 6 month post Radioactive Iodine Treatment check up appointment. We were given great news: 1) That my dosage of medication is perfect and 2) that my tumor marker # (Thyroglobulin measurement) is officially at ZERO! My tumor marker # used to be 2.9, so that's really exciting it's at zero and shows that any thyroid cells (whether malignant or benign) have been blasted and are no longer there. My doctor said that if it's still zero at my 1 year mark, there is a very slim chance I'll ever have a relapse of thyroid cancer, which is exactly what we wanted to hear!
Tuesday morning, I had an ultrasound on my neck to make sure that all the surrounding tissue looked benign and we got an all clear response back from that as well. Such great news that we decided to celebrate with milkshakes!
I'm also taking the week off from blogging, so we'll be back Monday!
Happy Friday! Our little girl cracks us up daily with the things she's been saying lately, so before I forget I want to document! - The other day she walked into the bonus room and didn't see one of her toys that she wanted to play with. She walked back into our room to find Kyle and said "Are you kidding me?" with her arms out... hahaha! - The other day, Kyle asked Emery "When did you get so fast?". She responded, "Uhhh one thirty" hahaha. - When we all sit down for dinner, after Emery finishes her food she says over and over "I love you Mommy" "I love you Daddy" "I love you guys", then she grabs both our hands and says "Best Friends". Melt our hearts! - I told Emery she was "so stinkin' cute" the other day, and she immediately stopped smiling and said "Inot stinky Mommy, see" and pulled down her pants.
And a few pictures to document too! I found this rocker/chair at a garage sale for $15. Emery LOVES it.
Took a 5 minute power nap outside last weekend... we literally spent ALL DAY outside spreading mulch, more on that later! She never falls asleep anywhere but her crib, so I was soaking in the cuddles.
Although she has turned into the BIGGEST cuddler lately. She either has to be sitting on me or holding my hand when she watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the mornings!
How she stays entertained when I'm cooking. Her fine motor skills are pretty impressive and she gets the noodles in those tiny holes first try. She loves to play with little things that are all the same... whether that be noodles, quarters, rocks-- she's in heaven.
When you ask Emery who her best friend is besides Mommy and Daddy, her answer is Merrin. We met them for a Monkey Joe's playdate this week and had a blast watching the girls run around together.
We've also been going to Discovery Place Kids every week, Em loves it.
We've meeting meeting Kyle a lot lately for picnics during lunch or dinner... enjoying the weather outside!
If this next picture doesn't show how much she loves jewelry, I don't know what will. Girly Girl!
And lastly here is Em's latest song that she loves to sing, The B-I-B-L-E! ADORABLE!
On Friday morning of our Raleigh week, we headed strawberry picking with the Dew crew! Even though we went at 10 am it was still HOT but the kids had an awesome time together. 
And here's a picture of what Emery and I made with our bucket of strawberries! Two yummy strawberry pies-- DELICIOUS!
