Emma 6 Months

I am finally getting caught up with posts...or at least getting closer. :)

On October 6th, Emma Lea Ruth turned 6 months old. It is amazing how very fast she is growing and changing. Her 6 month appointment isn't until November 1st so I will post her stats after her appointment.

I have said since day one that Emma could win the happiest baby in the world contest, and that continues to be true. She loves to giggle and laugh. She squeals with joy when you tickle her chest or under her chin. Peek a boo is quickly becoming a favorite game...and even Madison can play that game with her now.

Emma is desperate to learn how to crawl. She so wants be able to follow her sister and cousin around as they move from room to room. Just today, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees for a moment or two. It won't be long before she figures it all out and is able to keep up with Madi and Aiden.

She is starting to use more syllables. She will say mamama and dadada. I have also heard her use yeah appropriately. She babbles more than Madi and Aiden did combined.

Emma Lea is starting to want to put herself to sleep. It seems so early for her to want to just lay down to go to sleep. I will miss the days of rocking a baby to sleep when my babies decide they are too big for that anymore.

Emma is working on sitting up. She can balance for a few minutes before falling over. When she falls over, she gets quite upset. Hopefully she will learn to sit up longer so she is not quite so frustrated.

This little angel can now hold her own bottle. As any mother knows, this is a huge accomplishment and gives me more freedom to chase the other babies in our home.

Of all of the kids, Emma plays with her feet the most. She seems to be the most flexible of the three and can put her heels by her eyes. Perhaps she will be our gymnast.

When I pick the three kids up from Grammy Cone's every day after school, I have to give them all a hug, or else. Emma is especially glad to see me and she throws the biggest fit if I don't pick her up when I get there. It is nice to feel wanted and missed by the kids. Since Brad and Amber now are both fully employed and work until at least 5 I have agreed to watch Aiden from 3:30 until they get home so that poor Grammy doesn't have babies for 11 hours a day...I am enjoying getting to have our special time together after school.

Cousin Aiden turns one on November 5. For his birthday, Brad and Amber bought him an inflatable ball pit/trampoline. It is set up in our basement and the kids love it.

This has got to be my favorite picture of any of the kids so far. After our photo shoot with Auntie Amber, I gave Emma her bottle on the blanket and went to go make my shopping list. I noticed that it became really quiet, and when I checked on Emma she was fast asleep. She stayed like this for quite some time. I couldn't resist capturing this moment. She looks so peaceful.

Whew...I think I am getting there. Life has sure been busy since school started. And now our camera is broken...so hopefully I can continue to update everyone in a timely manner. Until next time, Jami

Much Needed Update

The Cone household has been very busy since school started this fall. Between crowd control duties, parent meetings, and commitee responsibilities, Brandon and I have also started a custom woodworking business. Check out Cone's Custom Creations website here. Brandon really does most of the work, and he does a really nice job too. I am just helping by making the felt bags for the custom cribbage boards he makes.

Our days are very full. We leave the house by 7am every week day, drop the kids off and are in our classrooms from 7:15-3:30 (at least). Pick up the kids, come home, cook dinner, bath time, bed time, and if we are lucky, we might have an hour to unwind before bed. I can't imagine how parents who work till 5 do it. I have a hard enough time leaving my kiddos for my day knowing that I will be with them again before 4.

Sundays are football days at our house. Brandon and Brad are in the same fantasy football league and are glued to the TV and their laptops all day. The kids hang out, usually together, while I try and keep caught up with chores. It is adorable when the a team scores a touchdown. Both Aiden and Madi raise their hands up high signaling "Touchdown".

Madison still likes to "help out" around the house. She will often carry around the broom pretending to sweep, or insist on carrying a diaper to the trash. One day Madison was playing in our bedroom and I didn't really think anything of it. After the kids were in bed, I went into our bathroom to take a shower, nearly tripping on a pile of my shoes. Madison had thrown every pair of my shoes from the rack over the gate into our bathroom. It was a pretty funny surprise, and gave me a chance to reorganize my shoe rack.

Labor Day weekend, our friends Tony and Elizabeth got married at Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota (right by Custer). Grammy and Grampa Hitt and the four of us loaded up into their RV for the weekend. We left Gillette around 5 pm on Friday and headed straight for the campground. After getting just a little turned around, (which is interesting in a RV on the curvy roads) we found our campsite and unpacked our suitcases. It was at this point when I asked Brandon where he put our suitcase that we realized it was still in our room in Gillette...3 hours away.

Luckily, the girls had there own suitcase so we had diapers, clothes, and pj's for them. So Saturday, Mom and I loaded up the girls and drove to Rapid City to buy clothes for Brandon and I to wear for the rest of the weekend. When we got to Custer, we had two choices for the route to Rapid. Mom told me to go left, so we did.

Two hours later...we were still not even to Mount Rushmore. The speed limit on this section of highway is 35 mph and I was lucky if I could go that fast. Switchbacks, complete corkscrews and one-lane bridges marked the "scenic route" to Rapid. Finally we made it to Rapid, ran through Target and Sonic, and headed back to Custer to pick up the guys from their golfing trip. (They weren't expecting us to take all day...so they ended up playing 27 holes...they were pretty sore the next day!)

Just a note...it took us less than an hour to make it back to Custer. We took the other route back. For future reference...turn right!

It was a beautiful day for a wedding and the kids were awesome. It was on the shore of the lake. The bridesmaids and bride arrived via horse and carriage. The lake made an awesome backdrop for the ceremony, which was very nicely done. Instead of lighting a unity candle, the couple poured colored sand into a common jar. I really liked the symbolism of the sand.

This is my favorite picture of the ceremony that Brandon took. We really enjoy spending time with Tony and Elizabeth, and it was great to see them begin their lives together. Congratulations, you two.

Other than that, our lives have been filled with school, working on the pole barn, which is now finished on the outside, building Brandon's business, and playing with our beautiful little girls. Brad and Amber are still living with us, which is wonderful. It is so nice to have another set of parents for our three kids. (We all consider ourselves to have three kids, there are just four parents :) )

I hope to be better about posting. Hopefully, life will start to have a routine again. I can't believe we are only three weeks away from parent-teacher conferences. Every year seems to go by faster and faster...only 26 more years till I can retire...

Madison 18 Months

Madison Marie turned 18 months old on September 12. She is in the 75% for both her height and weight at 26lbs, 4oz and 32.25 inches tall.

She is quite the character. She loves to scream and run around with her cousin Aiden. The two of them will chase each other through the house and then will sit down amidst a pile of books and read to each other.

This is Madi's "Cheeser" grin...it is how she always poses for the camera now. Between cheeser and her buckets of energy it is pretty hard to get her to sit still for pictures, so these are the best I was able to get... :)

This is the rocking chair that Grammy Hitt made for Madi. The chair was Grammy's when she was a little girl. Grammy took it apart, refinished the wood and covered it with beautiful plaid cushions. Madison likes sitting in her own chair. She is getting more and more independant every day. Her biggest goal lately has been to learn how to get dressed. She will play with clothes and shoes for hours trying to get them on properly. She was able to get her pants on this past weekend, although her pajama bottoms were on underneath.

Madi is still working on learning to talk. She uses several signs consistently, but the words she uses often are still very few. My guess is that she will just jump to using full sentences when she finally decides to talk. She babbles and gabbers constantly, it would just be wonderful to understand her world.

Her favorite word of the month is "ice". She goes to the cupboard in the kitchen, brings out a dixie cup and runs to the freezer where she says "ice". It is pretty darn cute...especially since it takes her whole body to say the word, and it now has three syllables. "iieeccee"

Madison loves to help take care of her baby sister. She will bring Emma diapers, bottles, pacifiers, and toys. Madison is good about entertaining Emma and is adored by her little sister. My hope for them is that they always love each other as much as they do now. I am sure there will be days that they don't get along...every set of sisters has those, but I sure hope the times they get along outnumber by far the fights.

Madison, You are turning into such a big little girl. I can hardly see the baby in you anymore. I love watching you learn about this world, and figure out how to climb and run and talk. You are truly my little angel. I love you, Mommy.

Emma 5 Months Old

On September 6th Emma Lea Ruth turned 5 months old. She really is the happiest baby in the world. She loves to giggle and laugh at everyone!

She is ticklish under her chin and around her rib cage. She will giggle and squeal when you tickle her there. She is fascinated with her older sister and cousin. As long as she can see the two of them, she is happy...for hours. She loves to jump in the jumperoo, stand in the walker, and roll all over the place.

If you can't read her shirt, it says "This is my little black dress". Auntie Amber bought it for Emma and I think it is adorable on her. :)

She is working on sitting up unassisted, but still needs support to do it well.

We are working on finding the right nickname for our little angel...Madi is bugger, Aiden is monkey, and Emma is all of the following...itty bitty...butterball...bean...ladybug...nothing has stuck so far as the pet name to last. (I love itty bitty...but according to the growth charts, she might end up being the tallest of them all...irony could be funny)

I love this last picture. She is absolutely adorable in it!

Emma Lea...you are my precious baby girl and I love every inch of you!

BNSF Family Picnic

So I know that it has been forever since I have written a blog. Truth be told, life has been a little crazy adjusting to going back to school this fall. Finding the time to sit at the computer is a challenge these days, especially since Emma is still sharing a room with the computer. However, I have several posts started with pictures loaded...so hopefully you will get your fill of updates on our lives. :) Stay tuned for more!

September 12 was the BNSF family picnic in the park. YiaYia (Greek for grandma and what the kdis are calling Brandon's Grandma), Grammy and Granddad Cone and I took the three kids to the local fishing lake for a barbecue. There were lots of things to do...like ride the miniature train around the park.

The kids had a blast. They got to have their first sno-cone, which they all enjoyed...but none as much as Emma. I wasn't to excited about giving a 5-month old a sno-cone...but she wouldn't let me eat it without sharing it with her. Emma would pull the sno-cone to her mouth, so I finally gave in and let her have some of the ice crystals with minimal syrup.

Grammy and Granddad enjoyed showing off their babies to their railroad friends. It was a beautiful day and the kids love being outside. It was perfect.

The miniature train was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed riding it around the park. I can't wait for next summer and the adventures we will have with two one-year olds and one two year old.

Thank you Granddad for sharing your picnic with us. :)