Emma has been working hard at her school to learn her letters, sounds and letter combinations to be able to read. Since her school doesn’t tell us much about what they are working on, I’ve been working with Emma off and on to make sure she is getting ready to read. I went to Starfall.com to see if Emma would play the letter games and listen to stories. Before I knew it, she was reading after me, then reading on her on. We got a video of Emma reading on her own. You can see it is later at night and after a long day, she doesn’t have much attention. I also realized after videoing Emma that she was doing everything I beg for my 3rd graders to do. She was stopping and really looking at the pictures to understand the story! Way to go Emma. I’m so proud of her for working so hard to become a little reader.

Emma had her second dentist appointment at the end of September. Emma did a great job and was able to get all of her teeth cleaned with the tools. She was happy at the end of the appointment and got 4 stickers, 2 balls, floss, Spongebob toothpaste, a purple toothbrush and several appointment cards. She was such a trooper. Way to go Emma and Creekwood Dental!

Today we enjoyed a nice family day at the Houston Aquarium. It was nice to go check out something that Houston had to offer as a little family. Emma really enjoyed seeing different types of fish, alligators, sharks, riding the train, the carousel, and much much more. It was a great trip. I’m not sure who had more fun Emma or the adults?!?!?!!

This week Emma and I took our 2nd annual trip to visit Matt, Lindsey and Dean. This was the first time for Emma and I to go alone though. We made the 4.5 hour drive like champs. Emma watched movies and played games on her phone and leapster.

We loved seeing their new house in Trophy Club, Texas. It is so cute and cozy. We also LOVED their new neighborhood splash pad. Dean and Emma had a lot of fun playing with the spraying fish, boats, slides, etc. It was also nice for us moms because it was shallow enough that we could sit on the beach and watch DT and EC have fun.

We also got to enjoy the Ft Worth Zoo. This was so awesome. It is a long narrow strip of land that is hilly, shady and breezy. It was great. DT and DC were able to see all of the animals, have a nice picnic and play on an AWESOME indoor play area. They really enjoyed themselves for a couple of hours.

Lindsey and Dean also took us to the Gaylord Hotel to see the Alice in Wonderland exhibit. This was Emma’s favorite part of the whole trip. We visited 12 different stations and saw several characters from the movie. Each station was made out of different materials; sand, metal, plants, etc. Emma loved counting the stations and seeing what was at each turn.

It was a great trip and Emma and I are ready for our trip again next year.

Emma has always had a really bad reaction to mosquito bites. She welps up quickly after them and they turn really hard. This time she had a worse reaction. She developed an infection to one of the bites on her leg. We had to go to the urgent care center, get antibiotics, elevate it, etc. We felt so bad for her. I wish there were no mosquitoes so Emma didn’t have to worry about them. We have hopefully found a new repellent that will work, so we will see…

This summer Emma went to her first movie at the theater. She had been wanting to see Toy Story 3. Emma, Nana and I headed out for the 11:15 showing. Emma was very excited. She had her drink and snack ready for action. She did great. She never missed for the bathroom and she payed attention the whole time. She even understood what was happening. I could tell at times that she was nervous, scared and happy. It was a great thing to share with her.

This Fourth of July we headed up to Lake Livingston to hang out with the Yeager family. It was so nice to hang just with 12 people. The weather didn’t really cooperate, so we did a lot of inside playtime. Lindsey and I also entertained the kids with playing in puddles and going on bike rides/walks.

Emma also got to enjoy her first fireworks display. The neighborhood at the lake all chips in together to have one huge display. They purchased thousands of dollars of fireworks. The show went on forever! Emma really enjoyed watching the different types of fireworks. She also got to do sparklers, a roman candle and some other little ones that Layne and Amanda bought.

After a weekend at the lake, we headed over to the Barrs’ house for a day of swimming and grilling. We had delicious ribs, corn on the cob, butt nuggets and so much more.

It was a great holiday weekend!