She keeps getting cuter!

Emma is 13 months old today, so I thought I'd share some shots from the past few days. She has become quite a little stinker, but she is also very sweet. She loves on everything- I've even seen her cuddle one of her shoes. Right now she is obsessed with her (really Morgan's) rocking chair; she has learned to climb into it all be herself. And she will just chill out in it for a long time.

Here she is with rocker hair!

First Pigtails

First finger painting

She is very proud of what she can do.

Here she is relaxing with a plastic pickle...

Gifts Of Hope 10K

I suffered through a tough 10k today. It was hotter and more humid than it's been at my previous races, and that took a toll on me. I ran my first mile way too fast, then crashed. I knew I was in trouble after the 2nd mile. By the 4th mile I think I was praying out loud, by the 5th I was seriously considering a good cry, and by the 6th mile I don't know what was going on but I was starting to get chills (that might be a bad sign). I finished in 49:20, about a minute slower than my goal...However, my arch-nemesis Yomi (the UTPB cross-country runner who usually beats me) didn't show today, so I won 1st place overall (female). I received a Jason's Deli gift card, and best of all, a certificate for an hour massage. So it was worth it.

Here I am feeling great during my first mile...

...and crawling towards the finish line.

Travel Extravaganza

We did it all this weekend. On Wednesday night, we traveled back to Abilene. Then on Thursday we drove from there to Paris, stopping to visit the Botanic Gardens in Ft. Worth on the way. It was an extremely hot and windy day.
Friday was my 26th birthday (thanks for all the gifts everyone). We had a big "Memaw meal" complete with homemade macaroni 'n' cheese and chocolate dessert since we were also celebrating our last family gathering in Tigertown. After dinner, we cousins went for walk down the old dirt road that we've been down so many times together. Saturday we had a huge going away party with all the extended family. There were about 40 people in attendance. The Roams surprised everyone by flying in Candace and Madison. Morgan had a great time playing with some distant cousins. Emma just grinned the night away. And she lit up like I've never seen when she met Madison. She even said "baby".
On Sunday, Matt and I left the kids behind and drove into Ft. Worth for a date day. I went to an awesome store just for runners and bought some new shoes. Then we spent quite awhile in the Kimball Art Museum which was just amazing. Afterwards we went from high culture to low class at the Ft. Worth Stockyards. We stayed about 10 minutes because it turned out to be nothing but redneck souvenir shops and drunken middle-aged women wearing less than Emma would. After leaving we went to a huge mall and to dinner and then back to Abilene. My parents had brought the kids from Paris, and we were happy to be reunited.

Morgan peeks out of a big log at the gardens.

This walkway is just too beautiful to resist posing.

We tried to get both kids to smile, but Morgan had other plans. Emma's still trying to cooperate in spite of it all.

Fortunately she wasn't afraid of these flowers.

But she was pretty angry when Dad did this...







Emma moving in for a kiss...

Memaw, Emma, and Darenda

The 3 great-grandkids

Madison was not down with this photo shoot at all!

Candace looks great as a mommy.

Morgan and Ella (don't ask how they are related!)

Huge family shot (thanks Jennifer)

Our last photo in front of the house.

Morgan's 1st Day of "School"

Morgan started Mother's Day Out today at Trinity Presbyterian. He will go 9-3 on Wednesdays. I told him he was going to school, and he was excited to have his own back pack. When we arrived, he bypassed hordes of screaming toddlers, sat down at the table, and immediately began coloring. He will be doing music, library time, science activities, and lots of other things. I'm sure he will have a hard time waiting for Wednesday to roll around each week!

Doesn't he look like such a big boy in these pictures?

Weekend Visit & Party

OK we had about 500 pictures from this weekend's birthday extravaganza, so I had to pare it down quite a bit. Morgan and Emma had a lot of fun with all their family. Pepaw brought a bat and ball for Morgan. He has been interested in softball since he saw Fernando's game last week.
Emma wasn't quite herself this weekend since she bit her tongue badly on Friday. It was hard for her to eat and drink. But she looked lovely in her party dress and she really perked up once she got her hands on a cupcake.
Thank you to everyone who came to the party, just for being there and for the nice gifts.


Memaw tickles Morgie

Bella & Emma



Getting undressed for the cake...



Birthday distress...



...turns to birthday joy

Getting cleaned up after cake

Emma loves stuffed animals

Her first bracelet

Morgan moves in on the gifts



More birthday tears (we had just finished examining her tongue)

The big family shot (thanks Ryan!)

Emma Eats Cake on Her Birthday

As Ashleigh explained in the last post, we had a little family birthday celebration with Emma yesterday. Okay, we know a lot of you will be seeing this happen again on Saturday, but we thought in the meantime you'd like to see a little preview of Emma eating cake.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Emma had quite a day! Things started off with a bang this morning...I sat enjoying my coffee while the kids played in the playroom. Suddenly I heard Morgan cry, "nasty poopie!" This can't be good. And sure enough, I found it had escaped his diaper. Not only was it on the floor, his legs, and his hands, but a big smear was on Emma's face (I'm sorry, I just had to tell this story)! So they both went straight to the bath. These events will hereafter be referred to as "the incident".
At noon, I took Emma in to get her portrait made. This also turned out to be a major ordeal. Emma wasn't sure whether to be freaked out or amused by the proceedings. She played "noodle legs", refusing to stand, trying to escape, sucking her finger, crawling to me, anything but posing and smiling. To make matters worse, the photographer was in training. On more than one occasion, the other photographer and I would get Emma to cooperate only to have her say, "Wait, which button?" Seriously. Finally the other guy took over. It's a miracle that we got the shots we did.
After dinner we had a little family party. Emma looked sweet in her birthday crown and bib. She had her first cake and ice cream. She opened 3 gifts from us- a Care Bear, a My Little Pony, and a Little People castle set. Yeah, we kind of went retro on the gifts. The Care Bear seems to be her favorite while Morgan has taken to the castle set! The played together with the new things until bedtime.

Birthday Breakfast

Birthday Bath (after "the incident")

Mama & Emma

Emma got lots of calls; here she is talking to Grandma Motz

Emma loves to cuddle her Care Bear

She was fascinated by her cake...

and pleased with the taste.

Morgan reaped the benefits too.

Here they are enjoying her gifts. Morgan thinks they're his of course...