Our "Pure Michigan" Vacation

We had an awesome vacation to Michigan over the 4th of July! We started the week at Jay's parents where his brother and sister in law also came from Florida. Emma and Anna got to spend a few days with their cousins Kole and Sydney. We then went up to Mullett Lake where Jay and I rented a cottage right on the lake for an entire week. We spent the first weekend with my brother and sister in law. My nieces Darian and Kennedy stayed for the entire week - which Emma loved! We were back and forth to the campground where Grandma and Grandpa and the crew were camping all week. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - sunny and 80's all week. We had lots of time to work on our tans, play on the boat, swim in the ever so wonderful Mullett Lake, and even brake out the waterskiis. Our best friends from Milwaukee were able to visit us at the cottage for a few days too with their two boys, Ben and Owen. I will let the pictures tell the story:) Our Pure Michigan vacation was pretty much Pure Heaven! (It also helped that we got Anna's EEG results right when we got to Michigan and they were normal!! Yay!! This made for a great start to the week!)

Emma and Kole just LOVE hugs:)

Sydney and Anna love looking outside and competing to see who can make Nana's windows the dirtiest!

Emma posing for a quick smile with Great Nana

Anna and Sydney playing a little game of footsie

Ahhh....lets gang up on Papa

Although totally posed, this picture of Emma and Kole turned out pretty cute

Kole and Emma didn't get the memo that they weren't supposed to put their little sisters in a headlock for the group picture!

Nana and Papa with their grandbabies - thank you Nana for making such cute matching pillow case dresses!

Cousins - they have so much fun playing together since they are so close in age!

Cutest two girls in the whole entire world (OK so I am a bit biased)

These two kids are pretty darn cute too. (Love Sydney's little smile in this pic!!)

Sprinkler fun! Love sitting on them!

...and putting my face in them!

A remake picture of a year ago with Emma and Kole - only this time it is Anna and Sydney

Emma getting ready for the Aloha State Park 4th of July bike parade with her decorated bike

Chillin with Grandpa Big John on his scooter

It is no surprise to me that Emma is in the very lead of the bike parade!!

Anna snuggling up to Miss Judy

Aunt Becky and Anna - she hated her boat coat!

Darian and Emma all smiles on the boat

Anna LOVED the water. What's not to love about Mullett Lake? Look how clear that water is! There just aren't lakes like that in Texas!

Jay showing off - he can still slalom after all these years

Whew - the 4th of July was too much excitement for Anna. She was out for the count.

Thanks for the free haircut Aunt Becky!

Our super cute little cottage that we rented for the week

Gotta love those hooded beach towels

Sticky fingers - a sure sign of a good vacation

Don't forget the sticky face, elbows, and hair too!

Daddy tending the campfire

Those who know Emma know that she loves to collect things and stockpile any and all toys in her purses. Give her a bucket and she was in pure heaven collecting rocks on the beach. Oh the joys of childhood.

Mama and Emma enjoying some time together. Looking out at Mullett - the best place on Earth!

Oh no - Emma and Ben are already kissing!! Wonder what the future holds for these two!

Anna and Owen sharing their toys

Anna loving the sun!

Emma wanted to read her very favorite book Purplicious to Ben. She literally has the entire book memorized!

Jay and Phil with Emma and Ben on the Big Brawler! Grandpa Big John went nice and slow while the kiddos were on. He wasn't so nice when it was just the boys!

Mom and Aimee even took their turn - and yes I had a sore neck the next day. (Not as sore as I got from waterskiing though. I am starting to show my age:)

Kennedy enjoying some sparklers with Emma

Darian and Emma

Great Grandma Charney with the girls

Emma loves her Princess boat coat

Anna says "Does it get any better than this?"

Grandma and Grandpa Big John with the girls. Notice Anna sticking her tongue out:)

Emma trying to drink the water

The rare pic of our family of 4

Emma showing off some dance moves once we returned home

Walkathon for Tuberous Sclerosis

I have decided to walk in the Silver Springs, Maryland walkathon to raise money for the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance on September 18. I have never been one to ask friends and family for money to donate to any specific cause. However, since Anna has been diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis (TSC) our lives have turned in a different direction than I ever thought possible.

Jay and I have immersed ourselves in learning more about TSC and how it will continue to effect our lives forever. We have learned that the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance is the main organization that promotes research and education for this disease. It is research that was conducted through the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance that allowed for the drug vigabatrin to be approved by the FDA in 2009. Vigabatrin is the drug that Anna is currently taking that has stopped her infantile spasms and allowed us to have hope for a normal future for her.

Our family now has a cause to support and advocate for. A cause that has already influenced Anna's care and will continue to for the rest of her life. I am extremely humbled to see that I have already raised almost $600 in just one day!! I can't thank our friends and family enough for their generous donations and hope you know how much we truly appreciate it! Please visit the link below if you would like to donate. Thank you so much!

www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/keridavis/stepforwardtocuretsc-silverspringmd

Updated Random Pictures

We have been very busy since moving in to our new home and I have a lot of pictures that I haven't posted. I have decided to just post some of them in one blog post and I will FINALLY be up to date. It has been super easy to catch up this past week because there isn't ANY good TV at night!!! Wow do they need to find some better summer programs or what?!? I guess that is why I always get hooked on Big Brother - it comes out in July and is usually on 2 or 3 nights a week, which is a good thing because there isn't anything else on!!!

In a nutshell we have been to the Washington DC Smithsonian Zoo, gone to an outdoor theatre called WolfTrap, went to the local festival called Celebrate Fairfax, and even made it to Georgetown Cupcakes (there is a TV show called "DC Cupcakes" on TLC that is all about this cupcake place) to try them out. We have also started swim lessons, gone to the pool multiple times, gone to the neighborhood playgroup, and met up with fellow Exxon moms/kids. We have a painter coming this weekend to start on the entire upstairs and we also ordered new blinds for the house. We have been busy getting settled and are also taking advantage of all our community has to offer! My mom is coming to visit this weekend and we are going on a tour of The Capitol on Saturday, which should be interesting.

On a more exciting note, Anna is officially pulling up to stand! She also said "Dada" yesterday for the first time. Emma looked at her with amazement and said "Mommy she is talking!" It was so cute. Now that she has mastered it she is saying it all the time. This, of course, makes Jay extremely happy. It isn't like she says it only when he walks through the door - she babbles it all day long but I don't want to burst Jay's bubble:) We are super excited about her recent accomplishments - each little step in the right direction for her is a BIG reason to celebrate!

Anna all smiles

Mom and Emma at the zoo

Emma with her neighborhood pals - notice all the boys! They put on a bike show for her on her birthday and showed off all their stunts. Apparently they put on bike shows for all the neighborhood kids on their birthdays - it was super cute.

Sporting their red, white, and blue for Memorial Day

At the local fair

OMG - look at Anna's chunky legs! I just want to keep pinching them they are so adorable!

Fun play time in jammies

Compare this picture of Emma at one year to the one below of Anna - they look a bit alike huh??? Bet you even thought this was Anna at first glance:)

Emma was SO excited to go on the Frog Hopper! She ran to the front of the line and cut in front of people to get on it first. She wasn't scared at all! We couldn't believe our fearless little girl!

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma!

I can't believe that this post is 1 month late! Even more so, I can't believe that my little girl is already 3 years old!!! Where did the time go?

Emma had the never-ending 3rd birthday celebration. We decided to have her big party a few weeks early in Texas before we moved so that she could celebrate with all of her friends. We held her party at a local gymnastics club and she had 8 of her neighborhood friends come and celebrate with her. They did all sorts of fun things including climb a rock wall, jump on a trampoline, swing on the uneven bars, traverse the beams, play "freeze" when the music stopped, and the fan favorite, jump into a big pile of foam blocks. The kids managed to burn off tons of energy and then sat and ate Emma's favorite Chik-Fil-A followed by a Disney Princess cake. Emma was in absolute heaven all day long screaming that it was her birthday and extremely excited to dig into her hand picked cake.

In Michigan she then celebrated with Nana and Papa and was again spoiled with tons of gifts. She also celebrated with Uncle Ryan, Aunt Becky, Darian and Kennedy. (It was nice for her to celebrate in person with lots of her relatives as she doesn't usually get to do so.) Once we moved to Virginia, Grandma and Grandpa Big John were here to celebrate with her and spoil her with her very own John Deere. (She loves riding on Grandpa Big John's lap while he is on his John Deere so of course he had to buy her her very own!) All this celebrating and it still wasn't her actual big day! On the day of her birthday we celebrated with our family of four and took her to another favorite high class restaurant - McDonalds. We followed it up with some ice cream and came home to open even more presents. What a spoiled, loved child! When all said and done I can't even remember all of her gifts but here is a short list of goodies: All of the Disney Princess dolls, Ariel purse and necklace, clothes, new bubbles and sidewalk chalk, Dora DVD, puzzles, furniture for doll house, Watson the stuffed animal that reads her a story, Toys R Us gift card, backpack with her embroidered initials, Bambi DVD, and the list really goes on and on.

At 3 years old Emma continues to be a very confident, independent child. She really wants to do everything herself with as little help as possible. She loves to dress herself and is especially proud that she can buckle her own car seat now. She is extremely talkative and is always asking "why?" She is very inquisitive about life in general which can be annoying after she asks "why" for the thousandth time in one day, but more often than not it is refreshing and adorable to see the wonder in her eyes. She LOVES to "read" books and does it all the time. She also loves playing with all of her princess dolls and has started to ask about the Castle that Cinderella lives in. She also says all the time "I want to go to the Castle." Dad is in big trouble - I think a trip to Disney is going to be in the near future. I really love this age because everything is so magical to her. Just a simple carousel ride puts a huge smile on her face. The Disney trip has to happen while this magic is still alive in her and she believes in all of the princesses and characters.

Emma also loves to be outside. She would be happy if I let her play outside all day long. She loves to ride her bike, play with bubbles, play with sidewalk chalk, ride her new John Deere, ride her scooter, run through the sprinklers, play with Play-Doh, or just simply help mom water the flowers. Any excuse for her to be outside and she takes it!!

Emma has also started taking swim lessons. Thank goodness! Our fearless child has already jumped into the deep end 2 times this year on purpose although she can't swim. I will be much more at ease around the water when she can swim a little bit. She is doing a great job. The teacher is working on her kicking with her face under water at the same time. She has already come a long way with just 3 lessons.

We are so thankful everyday that Emma is in our lives. We love her so much and she brings so much happiness, love, and especially laughter into our world. Happy birthday to our 3 year old!!!

The birthday girl

Posing with Avery and Lexie before her party

Jumping into the blocks

Anna (and of course her paci!) at Emma's party

Freeze!

Making silly faces with all of her friends

Daddy with Anna

And finally....she gets to eat her cake:)

Showing off some presents from Nana and Papa

All smiles as she tests out her new John Deere

Opening her presents

Emma coming out to see her new ride

Anna is Crawling!!

Anna is officially crawling! Wanted to post a quick video so that everyone could see her in action. She had an appointment with the developmental specialist on Tuesday and the doctor said that she is completely age appropriate both cognitively and developmentally. We are so very proud of her!

Also posted a video of Emma doing a somersault. She is such an acrobat! Still working on uploading those birthday pictures of her never ending birthday celebration.