Emery Cate | 16 months old

Our sweet Emery! I wanted to write to you now that you are 16 months old so I can remember all the sweet things you do. This is such a cute age and I just love it so much.

(all photos by Megan Martin Photography)

You are so, so sweet and you sure do love your momma! You love to be held and this is so different than your sister ... she was always so independent and you are too, but you still prefer to be near me.

You are getting so good at talking! You say so many words now. "Daddy" "Momma" "Mickey" "Donald" "Bye" "No" "MeMe" (just a few of the words) You say Momma the most! :) You will try to repeat almost every word we say! You follow commands so well and you are starting to string "gibberish" words together and it is so cute! You just talk and talk and I know you are trying to say something important by the look on your face :)

You still love mickey mouse SO much!! The CUTEST thing ever is when you say "donald." I purposely find pictures of Donald Duck so I can hear you say it. You will spot Mickey Mouse from all the way across the store sometimes and I will hear you say "Mickey" & I'll search for what you see and it sometimes is so far away. You are obsessed, to say the least!

You have 8 teeth, have light brown hair and blue eyes. You are in size 5 diapers and are in 2T clothes. You are probably around 26 pounds now! You are taking 1 nap a day and you sleep pretty good at night with the exception of those nights where you love to stay up for a few hours at a time at 3 am. 

You love spoons and you usually want a spoon if I give you ANY meal. You will basically throw a fit until you have a spoon in your hand.  You usually will just hold the spoon in one hand and eat the meal with your other hand. Speaking of spoons, you LOVE to eat. I usually have to decide when meal time is over with you because I swear you would eat all night if I would let you!

One of my favorite things you do is giggle! You will randomly smile and giggle and it is so cute. I also love when you nod your head to tell us yes. You do it so forceful and I love it! You LOVE to dance! Any music you hear you will start to dance, I swear its like you can't help yourself - you just have to move to the music! :) You sway side to side and then will bounce up and down.

You are already starting tantrums. You love to throw things down if its not what you wanted and will lay face down in the floor and throw your fit. Lord help us. :)

You love being with Avery. Y'all don't play very well together but you still love to just "be" with her. Whenever she goes, you go. Whatever she is doing, you want to do. You are really patient with her most days and will usually not pay her any attention when she throwing her fits.

You get so excited every time you see your cousin Bryson. You love him so much. He gets the most hugs from you than any of us!

Emery, we love you so, so much. Words cannot describe how blessed I feel that you are my daughter. You were quite the surprise to us and Lord knew I needed you before I did. You are so precious to us and we have enjoyed watching you blossom over these last 16 months. You are such a ray of sunshine to everyone and we cannot imagine our lives without you sweet girl.
Keep growing big and strong baby!

December | Christmas mini

Photos by: emersonirisphotography

a letter to emery | ONE

Emery Cate,

I absolutely cannot believe you are already one! It seems like yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital!

You are 25.1 pounds and 31.25 inches long! You are in the 97% for height and weight! You have (light) brown hair and blue eyes! That dark hair didn't stick around too long. You are so beautiful! You have 2 teeth! You say "thank you" "squeaky," and "da da!"

You are such a happy baby!! You are content playing by yourself, but you do love to see what Avery is into. Most of the time, she doesn't like that too much. You often will pick up a baby doll (that she may or may not be interested in at that current moment) and you will take off in the other direction because you know she will want it. It's funny to watch!

You love to dance to music! If you hear a song on the tv, radio or if I am singing one, you immediately start dancing! It is so cute. It's every single time... It's as though you can't help yourself!!!

You are definitely a mommas girl and I love it! You prefer me over anyone and I am soaking it in!

You are napping 1 time a day and you are drinking whole milk now and you love it! You are such a good napper and sleeper and you lay down so good for us at bedtime.

You hate to get dressed and have your diaper changed and that is a constant struggle for us! I leave you in your diaper most days at home because you seem to prefer that over clothes.

You love to play with big kids and you are such a daredevil! You love to climb on anything you can. If you climb in a chair, you will immediately stand up! You give me so many heartattacks daily! We tell you no and you will squat down and whine a little and then stand right back up ... repeat! You also will climb into the little tyco cars at meme and papa's and you are always so content in them. I believe you have spent upwards to an hour in one before.

You are walking so good now! (& you are super bowlegged) Avery loves to tell me "Emery walking" everytime you're on the move.

You love to eat! You will eat everything we give you and you love feeding yourself.  You are content sitting in the high chair just picking up your food. You will eat it all most of the time!

You have to most delicate sounds when you are trying to tell us something  .... usually combined with the sweetest look on your face. You will hold out what ever toy you have in your hand and mumble something so quiet but you look so serious about it.

We love you so much baby girl. Life is so much fun with you and we are beyond thankful we get to be your parents. You have been such a joy and we love watching you learn and experience new things.

Keep growing big & strong baby!

a letter to avery | two years old

Our free bird,

I know I will write this and tear up with every word I write. You have been with us for 2 whole years now and every single day gets better. There has been no greater privilege and blessing than getting to be your mom. You have rocked my world completely and I will be forever thankful for that sweet smile and scrunched up nose. You make me a better person and for that I am so grateful.

No one prepared me for you. The love I feel for you is nothing like I have ever experienced. Your pain is my pain and your joy is my joy. I look at you with adoration quite often because it is still unbelievable you are ours. I still feel at times I can see that 6 pounds 15 ounce baby looking back at me.

This year has undoubtedly been a very life changing year for us. You were called to take on the"big sister" role at just 13 months old. Words cannot express those emotions. It was so unexpected and I was the most nervous about how I felt like I was robbing you of precious time with us. But, oh sweet girl, how I was so incredibly wrong. The pure joy I see in your eyes when you spot Em in the mornings and how you always make sure Em is going with us wherever we are going proves me so wrong. I realized that when God chose this path for our family, He gave you the gift of sisterhood and that is one of the sweetest gifts you will ever receive.

You told me "love you much" without me saying it first a few weeks ago and my sweet girl, that was one of my favorite moments ever.  Since then you will say "sissy love you much" & "daddy love you much" and that was so sweet to hear! You have such a sweet soul and I love that quality is shining through so young.

You are definitely a daddy's girl and you are sure to let me know it! When asked if you are mommy's girl you are quick to say "no, daddy's girl!"  A few times you have been sitting with daddy and will look at me and say randomly "daddy's girl!" He sure loves that!

You love all animals, but dogs and cats are your favorite.
 You love to drink apple juice.
You love to have your nails painted and will show everyone you can your "pretty" nails. 
You say "aw" after you give kisses.
You love to have you back scratched - "back please"
You love and I mean LOVE pillows. If you spot a pillow, you immediately want to lay on it...and then we hear "blanket too!"
You love having fun! You love to play outside and you love to be with friends.
Baby "claire" & "cate" are your favorite dolls and they go everywhere with you.
Mickey mouse clubhouse is your favorite show and you request to watch it all the time!
You are the least picky toddler I have ever met! You love all foods! You even like salmon!
You love to play with purses and cell phones and you love to gather everything and anything in your arms.
I literally cannot touch a pen to a paper without you screaming you want to color too.

Your vocabulary has exploded and you say new words every single day. We love watching you learn and try new things. One of my favorite things you do is you try to read. You start stringing together all sorts of sounds when you open a book and it sounds like you are speaking a different language. It's so funny!

I have started calling you free bird because you love to run ... and girl, you are fast. When you take off, there is no looking back. Literally. You are the happiest when you get to freely run and you could care less if we are following behind.

Our two year old Avery, I hope to always remember what it looks like to see you running up ahead at full speed, your dirty face and shirt after almost everything you eat, the feel of your kisses, the silly look on your face when you are trying to make us laugh, the sweet sound of your voice and laughter and the way you look when you are sound asleep.

We love you so much!

fall | painting pumpkins

This was definitely a new fall favorite for us and it will definitely get added to the list for next year! 

a letter to emery | 10 months

Emery Cate, you are officially 10 month old! I am enjoying this stage so much! You love to eat with your hands, you enjoy playing with toys and you are so easy to please! I love to hold you and just kiss your little (big) cheeks! You love momma's kisses!

You love to eat! If anyone has food, you can bet you are going to crawl over to them for a bite! And, chances are that you aren't going to get fed fast enough for your liking so you will get mad and start doing your fake whine accompanied with a face this looks like the world is ending. You love it all and won't turn down a bite.

You are so active and you love to follow Avery everywhere! If she is playing with a toy, you have to check it out. You are so curious about anything she is doing or eating. When Avery has her meltdowns, you are never phased. Most times you never even glance at her which is really funny to us. You must be used to the noise. Papa calls you am octopus because you just reach and grab for anything and everything until you get something in those hands.

You are mostly in 12 month clothes and are wearing some 18 month clothes. You are a chunk & I LOVE it!

You still only have your 2 bottom teeth and your hair is starting to lighten up some. I'm in denial about that because I want your hair to stay dark like mine. Your eyes are still blue like your daddy's!

You are taking 2 maps a day and will sleep a long stretch a night. You will still want a bottle during the night a few times a week and you let us know but doing the loudest groan! (I can't even explain this sound!!)

We are already planning your first birthday which is so crazy to me! I can't wait to watch you dive into your smash cake! Your daddy and I love to imagine you with your smash cake because we know you will love it!

You are so precious and so happy! You are so smiley and only whine on occasion ... usually when you are hungry or sleepy! You do love to pull on mommas leg when you want me to pick you up, but other than that, you are very content playing or watching Avery!

Our precious Em, you are so, so loved! 

Keep growing big and strong!

emery cate | september