When will Emma walk?

Well, crawling has taken off with a vengeance. She has long since loved to be stood up next to the couch or people or the pak-n-play and walk but now she pulls herself up to those places. At first she needed something to hang onto to pull her up but now she pulls herself up anywhere along any wall...and sometimes she falls which hurts a lot on tile floors. One of my favorite pics of her is when she is kneeling. I just think babies look so cute kneeling. So I included a pic of it. Also, she has decided that her crib and pak-n-play are really trampolines. She loves to just bounce everywhere, in your arms, in the jumper, in her bed, etc.

So, I am curious as to when she'll walk and what you all think. Thus I have posted a poll off to the right of my blog. Please vote as there will be a prize for the winner or winners! I just don't know what it will be yet...and yes, I'll even mail it since all you have decided to not live where I have chosen to live! hehe So vote now as the polls are not open forever! Oh and please post a comment with your vote as well so that I can see who voted what for prize purposes!

Finally, the long awaited video of Emma's debut! She is definitely enjoying the freedom of getting around. In fact tomorrow is the trip to Walmart for baby proofing items! She's pretty funny to watch come at ya because she just plows her way over!

Hobrook County Fair and Carnival

Cale always enjoyed the fair growing up. He claims to have gone every year and was excited to share the experience with his own daughter.

So, we invited Grandma Allen along and headed out. My main goal was to try a funnel cake which I was unable to do at the Taylor Sweet Corn Festival. I'd been looking forward to it for 3 weeks! ....and it was good!. I even saw how to make them and got a recipe online and will be trying it for a fun FHE soon. Anyway, here are some pics of the day. I just wanted to also note that although Emma is obviously too young to ride the carnival rides, she is apparently not too small for some. You have to be 28 inches for the carisal (sp?) ride and Emma is 28 1/2 inches tall!

I have to say that I am not a huge famy of reptiles unless they are ceramic or stuffed frogs so I kept my distance from this show!

Emma's Debut!

Well out little over-achiever is finally crawling at 6 1/2 months. She started doing so middle of last week. Buth gosh, she's been up on her hands and knees since about 4 1/2 months and long since perfected the army crawl. Now she has finally learned that she can move her hands forward while up on her knees and that she can go faster that way! So, yep, she's into everything! Let the baby proofing begin! She is also eating a variety of baby foods and starting some bigger people solids like bread crumbs, saltines, fruit snacks and pears! Those are her favorites. We introduced a sippy cup just to she how she'd do with it but so far she likes to suck on the handles rather than the nipple. Pictures of the crawling will follow soon as well as our exciting trip to the fair/carnival this last weekend!

Hurricane Ike

Thank you to all my friends and family for your concern for my family in Houston during Hurricane Ike. A little update: both my sister and parent's houses and cars were not damaged. The are all without power though and are told that will last for 4 weeks. Apparently the power station was hit hard. Downtown Houston was closed until today. My family all went into the office (they all work at the same one) and found that it had power and A/C. So they relaxed there for a little bit. My sister and her husband, and my brother and his wife are staying with my parents and 3 younger sisters for now. My parents have a gas generator and lots of food storage. Everyone was well prepared with 72 hour food kits, full tanks of gas in all cars, etc. They are still deciding whether to stay in Houston and wait out the power outage or to evacuate to Dallas or San Antonio. Most of that decision depends on whether they can work remotely and where their company wants to send them. If work is not possible they are thinking of vacationing in Georgia with family or in Arizona with me!!! I think they should just come here regardless!!

They were truly blessed with safety and rewarded for preparedness. They are already looking for ways to help clear the debris from the streets and neighboring houses. Thank you again for your prayers and well-wishes. They are doing great!

Emma "Cries Wolf"

Emma, like most little girls, has long since found that she can create a very loud, very high pitched scream! She took to practicing this art on our plane trip to Houston last month but since coming home it's been much more sparse! She now only does it to get my attention and to tell me to come play with her. Well, sometimes, I can't play (I have a house to run), and I put her in her pak-n-play and let her stand and watch me in whatever I'm doing. Well, this morning I was making myself some breakfast (French Toast) and she began to make her little squeal. I kept talking to her and telling her that she needed to hold on and let mommy finish what she was doing. Well, she kept squealing! I kept trying to distract her by talking to her and telling her what I was doing and smiling at her but she kept on squealing. Well, this all went on for about 3 minutes until I finally went over and picked her up. I knew that she had been working on a poopy diaper and decided she was ready to be changed. I went in her room and layed her on her changing table only to find that her PJ footies were wet. I thought it odd but figured she spilled something. Well then I started to unbutton her PJs and found that half her diaper had come unfastened either during the night or during the morning but needless to say was no longer holding anything in....and yes she had indeed finished pooping and luckily the remaining intact half of her diaper caught most of it. Unfortunately that was not the case for the liquid portion, hence the wet feet!

I started laughing because this was one time that a high pitched squeal is indeed warranted!

Bat or Bird or Blinds?

Well, it is finally starting to cool down at nights to about the mid 50s. Thus, it is the perfect temperature to open the windows at night and save money by not running the A/C 24-7. So, two nights ago, we did this. However, at about 12:30am I woke up to some very loud flapping noises in the kitchen. Now for those of you who do not know, I have a slight fear of flying things with sharp beaks (thanks to my trip to Galveston and the movie "Birds"); however, I mustered the courage to get up and check it out. I made it to my bedroom door before I heard it again and freaked out and made Cale wake up and come with me. As we ventured slowly into the kitchen we kept hearing it by the window above the kitchen sink. So I crossed my kitchen floor about halfway in an effort to see the window better at which time I saw the blinds blowing in the wind! At that point, I realized that the noise was simply the blinds and thankfully not a bird or a bat! I'm use to the sound that horizontal blinds make in the wind but I've not had vertical blinds for awhile and didn't even think about what that noise would sound like. Well now I know - it sounds like bats invading yourkitchen!

Growing So Big!

Well, most babies double their birth weight in the first month or two. Emma however, did not....thank goodness. Granted, she was 9 lb. 13 oz. at birth! Well, at 6 months old, Emma has finally done it...she has doubled her birth weight! She is now 28 1/2 inches tall and weighs 20 lbs! I can't believe how big she is. Luckily she is very active, loves to jump and roll around. She has definitely mastered the army crawl but has yet to figure out that her arms can move forward when on her hands and knees, not just her knees. Oh well, she'll get it one day or she'll go straight to walking. She loves to stand supported against the couches or in her pak-n-play and will walk up and down their lengths while holding on. Crazy girl! She loves to be up higher and see what is going on. She is definitely our shining light and brings such happiness to our lives. She is always ready to greet mom, dad, or stranger with a huge grin and playful bounce! We love you Emma!

More Sweet Corn Festival

The corn festival was a lot of fun but especially with little Emma. She took everything in so excitedly and with her big blue eyes! It is definitely going on our calendar for next year! Any of our friends and family are invited too!!

Since football season officially begins this next week and because the Cowboys are huge in Arizona, Emma and her daddy wore their Dallas Cowboys jerseys.

Emma actually loved the petting zoo. She didn't actually go inside the fences but loved to stand outside and watch the baby goats and bunnies and ducks! She also liked the puppies. This little guy sat in his food bowl!

We all enjoyed lunch but then couldn't resist buying some of the yummy corn on the cob. Who knew that little toothless Emma would love corn on the cob?!

The fair had five different inflatable jumping toys for the kids. Since Emma wasn't quite big enough to go by herself, we just sat her on the edge to see how she liked it. Apparently, she did!

The Ranch Rodeo was at 6pm and we thought Emma would be a little tired and hard to manage but she was really excited...probably just to be up past her 7pm bed time! It did start to rain a bit but we were prepared with blankets and umbrellas and of course Emma wanted to help hold the umbrella.

Sweet Corn Festival

The sweet corn festival is an annual even here in Snowflake/Taylor to kick-off the harvesting of the main crop: sweet corn! It is a 2 day event. Day 1 is mainly the craft show but ends with a salsa making contest where the tomatoes are donated and you make your salsa on sight. We went to day 2 which began with a 2mile/10K run, then a parade, BBQ lunch contest, fair events, and rodeos events.

These pics are of the parade. It starts with the usual fire trucks but then immediately followed by the sweet corn lady as Kara calls her!




















A travelling blug-grass band came up from Bisbee to play during the BBQ lunch. All different townspeoples come and cook lunch, for a small fee, and you can vote on who was the best.















While waiting for the rodeo events to begin we wandered the fair grounds looking at the Petting Zoo, jumping toys, etc. but eventually we got to see a Wild Cow Race and later that night, a Ranch Rodeo which is basically a spoof of a real rodeo. Events included Bronc riding, wild cow milking, wild cow relays, etc. All very fun and Emma stayed awake the whole time!

Working with Mom

This is how Emma use to help me work. She'd sit on the desk and play with a toy so nicely.

This is how Emma helps me work now...so helpful but if you look close you can see that she thinks she is hilarious!

All Moved In

I've had requests for pics of our new place so here they are. We enjoy the space but would love our own home!

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Allen Update!

Ok, so I know that I usually just post pics of Emma but can you blame me, she's so cute. I'd post more but I think you'd all get tired of it. However, now that we are far away from most family and friends, I thought an update on our little family might be in order. Cale is enjoying teaching 6th grade. He is starting an intern program reimbursed by the district to get his elementary degree. (For those of you who don't know, the whole reciprocity of his secondary certificate did not happen as we were told it would. Instead he needs a full blown elementary degree). He can do a lot online and get it done in a year or two and then will start his principal ship degree and NAU. He also just started coaching flag football for the school. They had their first game last night and won 8-0! He has one tiny little girl on the team and she scored the 2 point conversion! This was actually the first time the school has won in years!

I am staying at home with Emma which is great. We have lots of fun together even if our days are pretty laid back. I had the apartment unpacked in less than a week and actually have a place for everything! It's great. I need to start scrapbooking since I now have a place for it all. I also have lots of things on my to do list that I keep putting off but now have time to do.

Emma is as the pictures show a delight. She is getting over a cold and has become a little whiny but that's allowed when you are sick! She helps me do lots of stuff!

Trying to Crawl

I had to opportunity to go down for Craig's wedding (congrats again) and take Emma for a few extra days. Many people got to witness her attempts at crawling (she is so close) but I thought I'd post it anyway. She seems to think you go from knees to feet rather than from knees to moving hands!

Smiley!

Emma has thankfully stopped gaining so much weight. I don't know if I can't keep carrying her around everywhere! Just kidding but really 18 pounds is heavy! However, she has thankfully not stopped smiling! SHe is always so happy and cheerful and thinks she is so funny. SHe laughs at herself ...and me all the time!

Firsts

Ok, wow where to begin? So much time has passed. Emma has done so many new firsts! I thought I'd just share some pics of her first eating solids, first holding her own bottle, first time in her new crib, first shoes and painted toenails and first time sitting in a shopping cart! These pictures span from about 4 1/2 months to 5 1/2 months.

Back online!

Well, we have finally rejoined the internet world! We have felt so disconnected and I'm sure you all have missed the wonderful pics of the Allen family...ok, just pics of Emma! Well, get ready becasue they are soon to come but not tonight...I'm exhausted. We also finally have a home phone: 928-457-0200. I'm sure it will be very easy to remember with all those zeroes!

We just wanted to finally thank all those you helped us make this big move to Arizona. We are loving it down here and Cale and is enjoying his new job, albeit he is a little overwhelmed too. Emma is now sitting up, rolling front to back and back to front, sleeping in a crib, eating rice cereal and baby food (pears and sweet potatoes so far), teething, scooting backwards and working on crawling! Wow, she changes so much so fast! She can really cover a lot of ground now by rolling over and over and scooting. She goes backwards great but still snowplows her way forward with her head down!

We miss all our friends and family from Idaho and hope you'll come visit us soon!