We're Back!

The Webbs have had a busy few months. Lots of change. Lots of good. Lots of stress. Did I mention lots of change?

The first and most exciting happening around the house is that Emmy will soon be a big sister! We're expecting Baby Girl #2 on May 17, 2010. Her name will be Vivian Elizabeth. Vivian because we love the name. Elizabeth after my grandmother. While we know that what has come to be a pretty familiar environment is about to be shaken up, we couldn't be more thrilled! We've started to try and teach Emmy that Mommy has a baby in her tummy, and while she will say "sissy" (Vivian is a little too tough) and point to my stomach then kiss it, or at least in the close vicinity, she has also started pointing to other people's stomachs to indicate they too, have a baby growing there. So, maybe she doesn't quite get it.

Onto the next big piece of news...with a new baby on the way, we needed to move quickly on making more room in the house. We put our house on the market in October not knowing what to expect. To our pleasant surprise, we received an offer and now contract just a few weeks ago. As long as it all pans out, we'll be closing on January 19! Although I will be very sad to leave our home we've come to know and LOVE, I'm also excited to start the next chapter in our life...where ever that may be!

We have some pretty big decisions on our plate -- where to move ('burbs, back to our old 'hood area, etc), where and if we babymoon this time around, how to decorate Emmy's "big girl room", and of course, what AM I going to do about the name of our family blog. When Emmy was on the way and I started this blog, she was all I was focused on, hence the blog name -- emmyjunebug.blogspot.com -- I wonder if Vivi would have any clue???

Emmy has continued to grow and amaze us with each new development. She's a quick little girl. She'll now make an attempt to repeat any word we throw her way, and imitation is her latest trick. Whether it be "no, no, no, Maddie" to the dogs complete with a pointed finger, or shaking her head up and down along with me to signal I'm listening (and I guess she is too) to the conversation I'm involved in, or "singing" along to music on the radio, it's all so amusing and adorable. I can't wait to see her interact with Vivian!

First trip to Kanuga

This past weekend we made the trip up to North Carolina for the All Saints retreat in Kanuga. Now when I say church retreat, I'm sure many of you are cringing. We were all skeptical of what we had heard about the place -- one big party, relaxing, socializing, etc -- but it was all true!

We arrived a little later than planned Friday night, so we checked into our cabin with the Hoods, visited for a little while, and then hit the sack. We just didn't have the energy to make an appearance at the cocktail party that was pushing on late into the night.





Saturday we awoke to gorgeous fall weather – it was in the 50’s, sunny, breezy, and wonderful! We attended a yummy full breakfast, and then dropped Emmy and her new friend, Amelia off at the childcare provided, and headed to the adult program. Part of the session involved telling personal “feast” stories. Drew of course had the crowd rolling with laughter – he just can’t help himself around a mic! ADD set in around the 3rd and final hour, and the men excused themselves to pick up the girls.



Next was off to a barbeque picnic, then afternoon naps and lounging on the lawn of our cabin, and then the best part…Sky Top Orchard! We made the 15 min trek to the orchards to pick some Fuji’s and another variety for which the name is escaping me. The girls had a blast picking the not-so-desirable rotten apples off the ground and chowing down on the apples we allowed them to.













It was then time for dinner and the Halloween costume party. Em was adamant not to reveal her official costume, so we went with the doctor get-up she already has – scrubs and stethoscope. Amelia dressed as the patient…too cute!





There was feasting, football, reflecting, beautiful scenery, and just good clean family fun. We’ll definitely be back next year!

Family Beach Photos

Back in July, we had some family photos taken at Amelia Island. Kristin Sheehan of Bloom photography out of Roswell did a wonderful job! She had a tough client to deal with, as Emmy wouldn't allow us to touch her little toes to the sand without losing it. She finally settled down and got comfortable when we retreated to the boardwalk.

I highly recommend Kristin. You can checkout more of her work on her website -- www.kristinleighphotography.com.

Below are a few of our favorites.

Tu-Tu You, America

Emmy had a great time wishing America Happy Birthday. Thanks for a great visit to Amelia Island Todd, Barbara and Britton!

Summer 2009

It’s been a busy summer around the Webb house, and Emmy has been taking the craziness in stride! She’s now talking up a storm, even if we can’t understand 95% of her jabber. She says words such as hi, doggie (doga), flower (fwowa), bye, night night (ni ni), mommy (momma), daddy (dada), milk (mi), etc.

She kisses us now with pursed lips and an “mmmm” sound, rather than the sloppy open mouthed ones she used to bless us with. She runs - not walks - everywhere, has become very cuddly in the evenings, and often times won’t allow us to put her down. Separation anxiety has hit full force. We can’t even think about leaving the room for a moment, or put her down to walk before 9am. And leaving her at Wieuca Day School in the mornings is often a challenge, both physically (she has to be peeled off of me) and emotionally (just breaks my heart).

We’ve also started brushing our teeth, although mommy needs to make a better habit of it day and night. It’s more of a teether for those gigantic teeth that are still coming into the back of Em’s mouth. Once she starts brushing I have to battle to get the thing away from her.

Mommy and Daddy left for their first trip over 2 days together, without the bug. We traveled to Laguna Beach with friends – Kyle, Willis, Heather and Spencer. It was rough, but we got some much-needed time together. Shug thankfully took on the duties of watching her granddaughter, and although she was exhausted when we got home, I was informed Shug was already having Emmy-withdrawals. Thanks Shug for keeping such good watch over the Em-ster!

Below are some pics to get your Em-fix...

Playing much-needed catch up...

Alright, this is the first time I have done the posting on the blog. This is dad speaking in case you didn’t know. We have had a really busy spring/summer so far and that’s the way we seem to like it.

This was Emmy’s first Easter and it was a good one. We started out at Michelle and Brian’s house with brunch and the family. Then on to Kevin’s brunch in Midtown with some of our friends. Emmy got a basket from the Easter Bunny himself filled with goodies and we hung out in the back yard in the grass and enjoyed the day.









Anna’s birthday weekend was jam-packed Inman Park festival was awesome. We had a whole lot of people hanging out at the house all weekend. It was a great weekend for Anna’s 29th birthday. Barbara brought a cake and we had several cocktails to celebrate. I have to say she looks good for her age! We closed the weekend with a nasty double ear infection and ended up at Children’s Hospital on Sunday. Emmy was in bad shape but we got her all taken care of. I think that was our 3rd trip to the ER. I guess that’s what new parents do…

The next big milestone -- my daughter was first in her class to walk at 11 ½ months. We are very proud and will only have the highest standards for her going forward. Totally kidding, but she did walk first. So now she is running around the house screaming jibberish and pulling everything down and off the shelves. It’s cute but wears out the parents.



It’s hard to believe our baby has already had a birthday. 1 year has passed since my daughter was born. I remember getting home from the hospital and Anna looked at me and said “what do we do now”? A year later I think we might have some of it figured out but are so lucky to have a healthy baby. She had a huge bubble-themed birthday party with all of our dysfunctional family and friends. Our family tree could cover Piedmont Park with all its branches. Grand PooPa showed up with a mechanical life size horse that has motion sensors and several different saddles. Thanks Dad.

It was a blast and Emmy now loves cake and dessert. Time is flying by with her but we are having fun watching her grow and all the new stuff she learns everyday.







































Next on the schedule was Uncle Hanky’s graduation. Anna’s brother graduated from high school. We are proud of him and hope he becomes a rock star so he can pay for Emmy’s college. After graduation we went out for sushi with the family and had a good time. Welcome to the real world Hanky!



The next week we flew to Indiana to see Heather and Spence. I went to his bachelor party at the Indy 500. That was one of the wildest and best weekends of my life. I knew no one and ended up with 30 friends at the end of the weekend. Watching a car do 220 mph is very cool.

So the flight up was good. We were armed with a DVD player thanks to cousin Carrie, snacks and toys. Emmy made friends with the family behind us.

The flight back………………….
Nightmare!
Emmy started crying and didn’t stop for about 25 minutes towards the end of the flight. We were on a small plane with about 100 very angry people. I thought Anna was going to cry. I looked back at the rest of the passengers and apologized.

We will be driving on future vacations.



Next, it was onto Folly Beach for Heather and Spencer’s wedding. The wedding was incredible on the beach and we were proud of our girl Heather for finding a good man. It was so much fun and the crowd of people there were salt of the earth. Emmy was good and had fun dancing at the wedding. We had a sweet house on James Island with the Sug, Brian, Ashley, Nate and Brandi -- some of our favorite people.

Congrats guys!!!











After vacation we knew it was time…time to wean June Bug from bottles. The first couple mornings have been rough. She wakes up angry when you try to give her a sippy cup. She has been waking up around 5:45 every morning and we have to get up and feed her breakfast. I can’t get mad at her though because she is real cute eating a banana in her highchair with bed head (her hair is blond and curly, so awesome)…wish us luck with the rest of the transition.

The next big milestone happened last week at 12 ½ months. Now, we are not sure if this is a Paris Hilton “hot” or a temperature “hot”. Either way she said it and we are proud. I will have to start watching my dirty mouth because she is picking up things left and right.

Carry on good people, we will see you soon

Love,
Dad

Enjoy the pics!